I 


^ 


i 


ONE   OK  TUK    t;OPUKAMS    A  l    THIRURLIKUNDRUM 


INDIA 

AND  ITS  FAITHS 

A  TRAVELER'S   RECORD 
By  JAMES   BISSETT   PRATT,   Ph.D. 

profbssor  of  philosophy  in  wtllia.ms  collegk 

author  of 

"tmb  psychologv  of  religious  belief" 

"what  is  pragmatism?" 

IVt'/A  Illustrations 


BOSTON   AND   NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

«lK  RrtJCTlilre  ^xzii  Cambnbge 


COPYRIGHT,    1915,  BY  JAMES  BISSETT  PRATT 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  November  iqis 


TO    MY    DEAR    COMRADE 
IN    INDIA    AND    IN    LIFE 

AT  WHOSE  SUGGESTION  THIS  BOOK  WAS  BEGUN 

AND  BY  WHOSE  ASSISTANCE  IT  WAS 

COMPLETED 


3G0428 


A^m 


"Passage  0  soul  to  India/ 
Ecluircise  the  myths  Asiatic,  the  primitive  fables. 
Not  you  alone,  proud  truths  of  the  world, 
Nor  you  alone,  ye  facts  of  modern  science, 
But  myths  and  fables  of  eld,  Asia's,  Africa's  fables. 
The  far-darting  beams  of  the  spirit,  the  unloosed  dreams, 
The  deep  diving  bibles  and  legends. 
The  daring  plots  of  the  poets,  the  elder  religions; 
O  you  temples  fairer  than  lilies  pourd  over  by  the  rising  sun  ! 
0  you  fables  spurning  the  known,  eluding  the  hold  of  the  known, 
mounting  to  heaven! 

"Passage  indeed  0  soul  to  primal  thought. 
Not  lands  and  seas  alone,  thy  own  clear  freshness. 
The  young  maturity  of  brood  and  bloom, 
To  realms  of  budding  bibles. 

"Passage  to  more  than  India! 

Are  thy  wings  plumed  indeed  for  such  far  flights  ? 

0  soul,  voyagest  thou  indeed  on  voyages  like  those  ? 

Disportest  thou  on  waters  such  as  those? 

Soundest  below  the  Sanscrit  and  the  Vedas  ? 

Then  have  thy  bent  unleashed. 

Passage  to  you,  your  shores,  ye  aged  fierce  enigmas! 

Passage  to  you,  to  mastership  of  you,  ye  strangling  problems! 

You,  strew'd  with  the  wrecks  of  skeletons,  that,  living,  never 

reached  you. 
Passage  to  more  than  India!'' 

Walt  Whitman. 


PREFACE 

IF  there  is  room  for  a  new  book  on  India  and  its  faiths,  that 
certainly  is  not  due  to  any  lack  of  learned  and  excellent 
treatments  of  the  subject  already  obtainable.  And  the  only 
excuse  I  shall  offer  for  adding  to  a  long  list  is  that  I  have  sought 
to  deal  with  the  subject  from  a  point  of  view  different  from 
that  of  most  writers,  and  that  I  have  found  my  interest  center- 
ing on  aspects  of  India's  religious  life  not  often  emphasized  in 
our  books  upon  that  land.  I  am  neither  a  Sanskritist  nor  a 
missionan,'  nor  a  convert  to  some  Oriental  cult;  and  that  per- 
haps constitutes  my  chief  qualification  for  writing  on  India. 
For  I  have  had  no  axe  to  grind,  and  my  interest  has  been  cen- 
tered on  existing  conditions,  on  present-day  ideas  and  their 
significance,  and  on  the  methods  used  by  the  different  commu- 
nities of  India  for  religious  education  and  religious  reform.  In 
spite,  therefore,  of  the  many  excellent  works  that  have  been 
written  on  India,  I  conceive  that  there  is  still  a  place  for  a  book 
whose  author's  preparation  for  his  task  has  been,  not  in  San- 
skrit or  missionary'  literature,  but  in  the  study  of  the  general 
problems  of  the  psychology  and  philosophy  of  religion,  and 
who  seeks  to  present  Indian  religious  life  as  it  is  to-day,  without 
partisanship  or  antecedent  bias.  When  I  started  for  India  it 
was  with  no  thought  of  writing  a  book  on  the  land  and  its 
faiths,  but  to  gain  fresh  light  on  the  psychology-  of  religion 
—  a  subject  that  had  interested  me  for  a  dozen  years.  Before 
I  had  been  long  in  the  country,  however,  I  found  I  had  col- 
lected, from  observation  and  from  conversation  with  all  sorts 
of  people,  a  considerable  amount  of  information  concerning 
the  religions  of  India  which  seemed  to  me  most  interesting 
and  which  I,  at  least,  had  not  found  in  books;  and  my  wife 
suggested  that  what  had  brought  new  insight  to  me  might  be 
of  interest  to  others  also.    Hence  the  writing  of  this  book. 

Of  the  photographs  used  as  illustrations  all  but  one  were 
taken  by  myself.   The  pictures  of  Krishna  and  of  Kali  are 
from  common  prints  sold  for  a  few  annas  all  over  India.  These 
ix 


PREFACE 

and  pictures  like  them  of  the  other  gods  are  to  be  found  in  al- 
most every  Hindu  home  and  shop  and  in  many  a  native  law 
or  business  office.  The  picture  of  Zarathustra  is  from  a  com- 
mon Parsee  print  which  has  an  honored  place  in  nearly  every 
Par  see  home. 

It  is  only  right  that  I  should  here  express  my  indebtedness 
to  a  number  of  friends  and  acquaintances  without  whose  assist- 
ance this  book  would  not  have  been  worth  writing.  Most  of 
all  am  I  indebted  to  my  wife,  whose  quick  eyes  caught  many 
an  Indian  scene  which  but  for  her  I  should  have  missed,  whose 
criticism  and  suggestion  have  been  my  most  trusted  guides, 
and  who  through  many  hours  of  patient  work  typewrote  my 
manuscript  and  made  a  large  part  of  my  index.  Much  of  my 
information,  beside  that  gleaned  from  books  and  periodicals, 
I  owe  to  the  following  gentlemen  whose  acquaintance  I  made 
in  India:  the  Reverend  W.  B.  Stover,  of  Ankleshvar;  Mr. 
Jivanji  Jamshedji  Modi  and  Mr.  Aderji,  of  Bombay;  Mr.  Lala 
Hansraj  and  Principal  Lala  San  Das,  of  the  Dayanand  Anglo- 
Vedic  College  in  Lahore,  and  Professor  S.  C.  Sen,  of  the  Dyal 
Singh  College  in  the  same  city;  Mr.  Ajit  Prasada,  of  Lucknow; 
Mr.  Kumar  Devendra  Prasad,  of  Allahabad;  Mr.  Bhagavan 
Das  and  Dr.  Torepora walla,  of  the  Central  Hindu  College, 
Professor  Mulvaney  of  Queen's  College,  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Johnson,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Cape,  the  Reverend  Father  Joachim, 
Mr.  Seyed,  Mr.  Khalil-er-Rahman,  all  of  Benares;' Dr.  D.  B. 
Spooner  and  Dr.  Syed  Mahmud,  of  Bankipur;  Dr.  Satish  Chan- 
dra Vidyabhushan,  Dr.  J.  C.  Bose,  Mr.  Shivanath  Shastri,  and 
Mr.  Bipin  Chandra  Pal,  of  Calcutta;  Professors  St.  John,  Smith, 
and  Roberts,  of  the  Rangoon  Baptist  College  in  Rangoon;  Mr. 
Taw  Shin  Ko  and  Bhikku  U  Nyana,  of  Mandalay;  Mr.  Haras- 
gama,  of  Matale  (Ceylon);  Mr.  Dharmapala  and  Dr.  Hewa- 
vitarna,  of  Colombo;  and  Dr.  Jacobi,  of  Bonn,  Germany. 

I  made  the  acquaintance  of  these  gentlemen  while  Mrs.  Pratt 
and  I  were  traveling  in  India  during  the  autumn,  winter,  and 
spring  of  1913-14.  And  my  gratitude  is  due  not  only  to  them, 
but  to  the  scores  of  other  Indians  who,  whether  pundits  or 
coolies,  treated  us  with  unfailing  courtesy  and  real  kindness.  If 
one  rushes  through  India  one  may  indeed  depart  with  little 
liking  for  India's  swarming  millions.    But  it  is  hard  for  me  to 


PREFACE 

conceive  how  one  can  stay  any  time  among  them  without  find- 
ing them  a  truly  lovable  people  and  without  imbibing  genuine 
respect  and  admiration  for  the  simple  dignity  of  their  lives,  the 
quiet  courtesy  of  their  manners,  their  uncomplaining  endur- 
ance of  hardships,  their  unbounded  hospitality,  and  the  feeling 
for  spiritual  values  which,  in  spite  of  gross  superstitions,  is 
unmistakable  in  the  Indian  atmosphere.  These  things  —  or, 
rather,  the  memory  of  them  —  strike  one,  perhaps,  most  for- 
cibly after  his  return  from  the  East  to  the  familiar  sights  and 
sounds  of  Western  civilization.  For  my  part,  at  any  rate,  in 
the  rush  of  our  city  streets  and  the  complacent  satisfaction  of 
our  beer-gardens  and  our  moving-picture  shows,  and  amid  the 
descriptions  of  war  and  hate  and  horror  that  fill  every  day's 
reports  from  Europe,  I  find  myself  thinking  of  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  silent  monasteries  of  Burma;  just  as  I  shall  tell 
myself,  in  the  midst  of  the  snows  and  piercing  winds  which  our 
coming  New  England  winter  is  already  preparing  for  us,  that 
the  Irrawaddy  is  still  pursuing  its  course  to  the  sea  between 
groves  of  flowering  trees  and  banks  crowned  with  golden  pago- 
das, and  that  the  roses  are  still  blooming  in  Benares. 

James  Bissett  Pratt. 

williamstown,  massachusetts, 
October,  191 5. 


CONTENTS 

I.  On-  Avoiding  Misunderstandings    .        .        .  i 

II.  HiN-DU  Worship 15 

III.  The  Hintdu  Pilgrim 34 

IV.  The  Many  Gods 46 

V.  The  One  God 72 

VI.  Duty  ant)  Destin-y 91 

VII.  The  Hin-du  Dh.\rma 116 

VIII.  Teachers,  Priests,  antd  Holy  Men    .        .       140 

IX.  Reform  Mo\'ements  within  Hintduism    .        .  166 

X.  The  Brahmo  S.\iiAj  ant)  the  Arya  Samaj  .       190 

XL  The  Radhasoamis  and  Theosophists      .        .  213 

XII.  The  Kabir  Panthis  antd  the  Sikhs    .        .       235 

XIII.  The  Jainas 254 

XIV.  The  Mohammedans 291 

XV.  The  Parsees 318 

XVI.  The  Buddhists  of  Burma  ant)  Ce\xon      .       340 

XVII.  Education  antd  Reform 360 

XVIII.  The  Doctrin-es  of  Modern  Blt)dhism       .       371 

XIX.  The   Value    of   Buddhism    and   its  Springs 

OF  Pow-er 396 

XX.  Christian  Missions  in  India       .        .        .       425 

XXI.  What  the  West  might  Learn        .        .        .  463 

Int)ex 477 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

One  of  the  Four  Great  Shrines  at  the  Shway  Dagon 

Pagoda,  Rangoon 37^ 

Nuns  at  Prayer,  Shway  Dagon  Pagoda,   Rangoon  398 

By  an  Irrawaddy  Village 422 

The  Queen's  Golden  Monastery,  Mandalay      .      .  444 
Reclining  Buddha,  in  the  Jungle  near  Rangoon    .  470 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

A  traveler's  record 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

CHAPTER   I 

ON    AVOIDING   MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

NO,  I  'm  very  sure  he's  a  heathen  polytheist  Uke  the  rest  of 
them.   He  does  n't  beheve  in  the  One  God." 

"But,  madam,  his  verses  certainly  sound  as  if  he  did.  And 
you  yourself  said  just  now  that  some  of  them  are  filled  with 
genuine  religious  feeling." 

"  I  know  they  are;  that 's  the  surprising  thing  about  them.  I 
can't  understand  it  at  all.  But  Tagore  has  many  English 
friends,  and  it  must  be  that  some  of  them  made  this  selection 
from  his  verses  —  and  probably  changed  them  considerably 
too.  You  can  be  sure  all  of  his  poems  that  are  not  translated 
into  English  are  about  Ganesha  and  Shiva  and  the  rest,  and 
that  he  himself  worships  a  lot  of  horrid  idols  when  at  home. 
They're  all  alike,  these  heathen.  I've  lived  among  them  for 
tv\-enty-two  years  and  I  know!  " 

We  were  on  the  steamer  bound  for  Bombay,  and  all  the  pas- 
sengers except  our  two  selves  had  lived  in  India  for  years  — 
most  of  them  for  twenty-two  years  —  and  were  returning  there 
from  a  visit  or  a  furlough.  Every  one  we  met  knew  all  about 
India  and  the  Indians,  so  I  was  making  use  of  my  opportunity 
to  learn  something  from  them.  The  missionary,  whose  judg- 
ment I  had  learned  to  respect,  did  not  agree  with  the  lady.  He 
said  that  many  Indians  of  his  acquaintance  believed  in  and 
worshiped  the  one  God.  But  the  other  missionary  added  that, 
though  this  might  be  true  in  one  sense,  it  did  n't  do  them  any 
good,  for  they  didn't  acknowledge  the  Blessed  Trinity;  and 
without  doing  that  who  could  be  saved? 

Meanwhile  I  was  reading  the  books  of  Sister  Nivedita,  and 
learning  from  them  that  the  Indians  were  the  only  people  who 
had  retained  genuine  spiritual  religion  of  the  deepest  sort, 
that  the  caste  system  merely  meant  Noblesse  oblige,  and  that 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

the  use  of  idols  was  really  a  great  aid  in  spiritual  worship  and 
ought,  apparently,  to  be  introduced  into  Europe.  Somewhat 
puzzled  by  all  this  I  went  with  it  to  the  little  English  major  — 
a  charming  fellow  —  who  sat  next  me  at  table. 

"Oh,  you're  interested  in  that  stuff!"  he  said.  "Well,  you'll 
find  enough  of  it  in  India.  All  the  natives  want  to  talk  religion 
to  you  till  you  get  beastly  tired  of  it,  don't  you  know.  When 
my  Mohammedan  officers  start  telling  me  about  their  Vishnu 
and  Krishna  and  all  their  other  gods  — " 

"But  the  Mohammedans  don't  believe  in  these  gods  —  the 
Mohammedans  have  only  one  God.  It's  the  Hindus  who  wor- 
ship Vishnu  and  the  rest." 

"Oh,  it's  the  Hindus,  is  it?  Well,  anyhow,  they're  all  pretty 
much  alike,  and  I  've  got  'em  trained  now  so  that  they  know 
jolly  well  I  don't  want  to  hear  any  of  their  religious  rot." 

There  was  a  young  Hindu  on  board,  but  my  success  in  ques- 
tioning him  was  not  brilliant.  As  I  learned  later,  he  did  not 
represent  the  majority  of  his  fellow  countrymen.  He  did  repre- 
sent, however,  an  increasing  minority  of  the  young  men  who 
have  been  brought  up  by  liberal-minded  Hindu  parents  and 
have  been  sent  abroad  to  finish  their  education.  This  boy  was 
seventeen  and  was  returning  from  Germany  where  he  nad  been 
studying  engineering;  and  either  in  the  land  of  Kant  or  else- 
where he  certainly  had  acquired  a  rather  unusual  power  of  sus- 
pended judgment.  When  I  asked  him  what  religion  he  be- 
longed to,  he  responded  proudly,  "I  am  an  Aryan."  Asked  if 
he  meant  by  this  the  Arya  Samaj,  he  looked  puzzled  and  said, 
"  No."  Concerning  his  religious  faith  he  said,  "  I  believe  to  find 
out  what  is  good  and  do  that  thing.  I  don't  know  about  the 
rest.  Some  say  one  thing,  some  another,  but  all  agree  on  thai, 
and  that  is  my  religion  so  far.  Some  day  I  may  find  out  more, 
but  not  yet.  What  I  find  out  by  myself,  that  is  my  religion." 
When  I  asked  him  what  he  had  been  taught  about  God  and 
about  worship,  he  said  that  as  a  small  boy  he  had  attended  a 
Christian  school  for  a  time,  then  a  school  of  some  other  religion 
—  he  could  n't  remember  what  —  and  had  heard  a  lot  of  things 
about  God  and  that  sort  of  thing,  but  had  n't  understood  any 
of  it  and  did  n't  remember  any  of  it.  Asked  what  he  thought  of 
the  temple  worship  he  had  seen  in  India,  he  said  he  did  n't 

2 


ON   AVOIDING   MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

know.  Some  people  said  one  thing  about  God,  some  another. 
Some  said  God  dwelt  in  images  and  at  times  spoke  through 
certain  men.  He  did  n't  know.  He  had  seen  men  sit  around  a 
sweet-smelling  fire  and  jump  up  in  a  wild  state,  so  that  what- 
ever you  asked  them  they  could  tell  you:  but  whether  they 
told  the  truth  at  such  times  he  did  n't  know.  And  when  I  asked 
which  were  the  better,  the  Hindus  or  the  Mohammedans,  he 
said  that  as  he  himself  had  been  brought  up  a  Hindu  he 
could  n't  give  an  opinion. 

So,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  my  success  in  learning  re- 
ligion from  my  young  Hindu  friend  was  not  signal :  but,  at  any 
rate,  I  admired  his  suspense  of  judgment,  and  resolved  to  imi- 
tate it  and  to  form  no  opinion  of  my  own  till  reaching  India 
and  seeing  for  myself. 

When  one  lands  in  Bombay,  the  East  bursts  upon  one  like 
the  rise  of  an  Oriental  sun  —  which,  as  every  one  knows,  comes 
up  like  thunder  in  these  parts.  One  feels  that  he  has  never  seen 
color  before.  The  streets  are  alive  with  it  on  turban,  coat, 
skirt,  loose-flowing  trousers,  loin-cloth,  sari,  and  bronze  and 
chocolate  skin:  while  jewelry  of  every  description  hangs  from 
nose  and  ear,  and  encircles  neck,  arm,  fingers,  ankles,  and  toes. 
A  never-ending  stream  of  every  caste  and  religion  passes  by  one 
with  the  silence  of  patient,  naked  feet.  Those  with  the  caste 
marks  so  carefully  painted  on  their  foreheads  are  Hindus, 
while  the  men  with  the  strange  headgear  are  Parsees,  and  most 
of  the  bearded  men  are  Mohammedans.  Then  there  are  a  few 
Jainas  too,  and  an  occasional  Sikh.  The  scene  is  bewildering 
and  it  grows  the  more  complex  as  one's  familiarity  with  it  in- 
creases. But  more  bewildering  than  the  costume,  color,  and 
caste  of  this  multitude  are  the  religions  which  they  embody. 
Who  shall  understand  these?  How  shall  one  come  to  any  in- 
telligent judgment  upon  the  faith  of  India? 

The  first  lesson  that  one  should  learn  is  that  any  such  judg- 
ment upon  the  "  Faith  of  India"  as  a  whole  is  impossible.  Like 
other  countries,  and  even  more  than  other  countries,  India  is  a 
land  of  contrasts  —  a  land  of  low  plains  and  lofty  mountains, 
of  heat  and  cold,  of  wealth  and  poverty,  beauty  and  ugliness, 
cleariliness  of  person  and  filthiness  of  clothes.  In  the  spiritual 
sphere  the  contrasts  are  even  greater,  so  that  it  is  impossible 

3 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

to  lump  the  Indians  and  say,  They  are  all  idolaters;  or,  They 
are  all  spiritual.  To  the  reader  this  must  seem  an  absurdly  un- 
necessary and  perfectly  obvious  statement:  and  yet  one  will 
meet  with  people  who  insist  that  they  know  India,  and  yet  who 
seem  incapable  of  differentiating  between  the  Vedanta  phil- 
osopher and  the  magic-fearing  sweeper  or  the  animistic  Bihl. 
In  no  other  country  are  there  so  many  different  religions  or 
such  great  contrasts  of  intellectual  level.  Hence  nowhere  else 
is  it  so  necessary  to  make  distinctions  and  so  dangerous  to 
indulge  in  sweeping  general  assertions. 

And,  more  in  particular,  there  are  four  points  of  view,  or  per- 
haps I  should  say  four  possible  sources  of  information,  which 
he  who  would  understand  the  religions  of  India  should  regard 
with  caution.  Against  the  first  of  these  I  need  hardly  warn  the 
reader  —  the  point  of  view,  namely,  of  the  native  himself. 
Naturally  one  must  not  believe  everything  that  one  is  told  by 
the  Indians  in  praise  of  their  own  religion  —  some  of  their 
statements  go  well  with  a  little  salt.  Like  the  adherents  of 
other  authoritative  religions,  they  naturally  believe  that  theirs 
is  the  only  one  truly  inspired,  and  some  of  the  more  educated 
will  attempt  to  explain  away  its  objectionable  features  by  a 
free  use  of  the  allegorical  method.  And  some  of  them,  out  of 
sheer  loyalty  to  their  faith,  will  refuse  to  admit  the  existence  of 
evils  with  which  they  are  really  well  acquainted.  But  even  if 
the  defender  of  a  religion  does  not  categorically  deny  the  ex- 
istence of  certain  of  its  evils,  he  may,  at  least,  —  especially  if 
writing  a  book,  —  carefully  avoid  making  any  mention  of  them. 
This  is  natural  enough  and  is  to  be  seen  in  many  defenders 
of  Christianity  and  Its  various  churches  and  sects.  Hence,  if 
Vivekananda  and  other  cultured  Indians,  In  their  books  on 
Hinduism,  fail  to  mention  anything  in  it  that  is  unworthy,  but 
paint  it  all  white,  one  should  not  blame  them;  but  one  should 
not  stop  with  them. 

This  trait  of  telling  the  truth  but  not  the  whole  truth  is  a 
little  more  surprising  and  a  little  more  misleading  in  those 
European  writers  who  seek  to  give  an  ultra-" sympathetic" 
picture  of  India  and  whose  point  of  view  is  the  second  of  the 
four  against  which  I  would  warn  the  reader.  Sister  Nivedlta 
(Margaret  E.  Noble)  and  Fielding  Hall  are  representative  of 


ON   AVOIDING  MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

the  best  type  of  these,  and  Mrs.  Besant  of  the  worst.  Of 
the  latter  something  shall  be  said  in  another  place,  but  of 
Sister  Nivedita  a  word  here.  Whoever  wishes  to  understand 
the  India  of  to-day  should  read  her  books  —  particrularly  "The 
Web  of  Indian  Life."  Probably  no  one  else  has  succeeded  so 
happily  in  presenting  the  finer  side  of  Indian  family  life,  social 
relationships,  and  religious  ideals.  But  as  one  turns  her  fascinat- 
ing pages  one  is  uncertain  whether  to  wonder  most  at  her  in- 
sight into  all  that  is  best  or  her  blindness  for  all  that  is  worst  in 
India.  Any  one  who  has  seen  the  unlovely  aspect  of  Hindu 
temple  worship  —  even  in  her  own  beloved  Bengal  —  must  feel 
considerable  amazement  at  what  she  and  others  like  her  find  in 
it  of  vision  and  inspiration.  But  perhaps  the  secret  is  partly 
given  in  one  of  her  own  sentences:  "Living  in  a  Calcutta  lane, 
the  powers  of  the  imagination  revive"!  And  with  natures  as 
beautiful  and  devoted  as  was  Miss  Noble's,  the  powers  of  the 
imagination  and  of  loving  sympathy  not  only  revive  and  heal 
and  bless,  but  sometimes  also  mislead. 

Yet  sympathy  like  Miss  Noble's  is  essential  to  perfect  in- 
sight; only,  we  should  not  stop  with  it.  And  in  fact  there  is 
little  danger  of  most  of  us  doing  that.  Much  greater  is  the 
danger  that  we,  with  our  Western  ideals  and  customs  so  differ- 
ent from  those  of  India,  should  go  to  the  other  extreme  and 
take  one  of  the  two  remaining  points  of  view  that  I  referred  to 
above.  One  of  these  is  that  which  characterizes  a  certain  type 
(now  happily  decreasing)  of  earnest  but  narrow-minded  mis- 
sionary. To  people  of  this  sort  —  whether  in  the  "foreign 
field"  or  at  home  —  "Christianity"  is  "true,"  hence  all  other 
religions  are  "false."  And  this  being  the  case,  one's  chief  duty 
is  felt  to  be  the  demonstration  that  all  "heathen"  customs  and 
beliefs  are  bad.  The  old-fashioned  method  of  doing  this,  as  all 
my  readers  will  remember,  was  to  paint  in  lurid  hues  all  evils 
discoverable  in  the  "heathen"  religion,  and  to  shut  one's  eyes 
diligently  to  everything  good  in  it.  Most  of  us,  I  suppose,  were 
brought  up  to  believe  that  throwing  their  children  to  the  croco- 
diles in  the  Ganges  was  the  daily  entertainment  of  most  Indian 
women.  But  I  need  say  no  more  concerning  the  old-fashioned 
missionary  book,  which  is  so  familiar  to  us  all,  and  from  which 
our  general  Western  idea  of  India  up  till  quite  recently  was  so 

5 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

largely  derived.  The  modern  missionary  book  and  the  modem 
missionary,  I  am  glad  to  say,  are  usually  of  a  quite  different 
type.  Yet  enough  books  and  men  and  women  of  the  old  sort 
are  left  to  make  it  important  to  be  on  the  alert  against  their 
partial  statements.  As  a  rule  what  they  say  and  write  is 
perfectly  true ;  but  they  give  only  half  the  picture.  To  mention 
only  one  book  of  this  sort  —  the  Abbe  Dubois's  "  Hindu 
Manners,  Customs,  and  Ceremonies"  is  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able treatises  ever  written  on  India.  Nowhere  else  can  one  get 
so  reliable  and  detailed  an  account  of  Indian  life  and  customs 
from  first-hand  observation.  Nearly  every  positive  statement 
in  the  book  is  true;  just  as  nearly  every  positive  statement  in 
Sister  Nivedita's  "Web  of  Indian  Life"  is  true.^  Yet  the  gen- 
eral impressions  one  carries  away  from  the  two  books  are  about 
as  different  as  the  impressions  one  has  after  reading  the  "In- 
ferno" and  the  "Paradiso."  Each  book  is  needed  as  an  anti- 
dote to  the  other.  Unfortunately  I  found  many  of  the  European 
residents  of  India  well  versed  in  the  abba's  book,  but  few  had 
taken  any  antidote;  and  as  a  result  they  were  convinced  that 
immorality  constituted  the  chief  form  of  worship  in  Hinduism, 
that  all  Brahmins  were  either  fools  or  knaves,  and  that  Indian 
thought  in  general  was  utter  nonsense. 

And  this  brings  me  to  the  fourth  source  of  information  which 
one  should  regard  somewhat  askance  —  namely,  the  assertions 
of  the  superficial  tourist  or  the  non-missionary  European  resi- 
dent in  India.  This  source  is  particularly  dangerous,  for  it  is  so 
natural  to  suppose  that  one  of  our  own  race  who  has  traveled  in 
India  (and  especially  one  who  has  lived  there  "twenty-two 
years")  will  be  in  a  position  to  know  all  about  it.  They  usually 
think  so  themselves.  It  is  the  commonest  thing  to  meet  with 
tourists  who,  having  spent  a  month  or  less  in  India,  having 
visited  two  temples  and  the  bathing  and  burning  ghats,  and 
having  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  few  servants  at  the  hotels 
and  a  few  coolies  at  the  stations,  are  on  their  way  home  to  tell 

^  Both  of  these  books  have  geographical  limitations  as  well  as  initial  pre- 
judices. Sister  Nivedita's  personal  observation  is  mostly  confined  to  Bengal, 
while  the  abbe's  facts  were  almost  entirely  gathered  in  southern  India.  In 
addition  to  this  one  must  remember  that  the  abbe's  book  was  written  one 
hundred  years  ago. 

6 


ON   AVOIDING  MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

their  friends  that  they  have  seen  India  and  that  its  inhabitants 
are  all  degraded  worshipers  of  stocks  and  stones. 

The  tourist's  ignorance  is  not  surprising.  But  it  is  not  easy 
to  understand  the  ignorance  of  the  average  European  resident 
in  India.  Surely  no  one  can  go  to  the  East  and  fail  to  admire 
the  universal  peace,  the  impartial  justice,  and  the  efficient  ad- 
ministration that  England  is  giving  India.  I  believe  no  other 
nation  could  govern  India  so  well,  and  this,  I  think,  is  the 
opinion  of  the  Indians  themselves.  The  English  judge  is  always 
just,  the  English  civil  servant  is  unbribable,  faithful,  and  effi- 
cient, the  English  official  is  universally  regarded  as  the  defender 
of  the  poor;  and  the  almost  pathetic  confidence  manifested 
by  the  "natives"  everywhere  in  India  toward  all  European 
tourists  speaks  eloquently  for  the  honesty  and  fair-dealing  of 
the  English  residents  of  the  land.  If  through  any  chance  of 
war  India  should  change  masters,  it  would  be  nothing  short  of  j 
a  calamity  for  the  Indian.  And  yet  with  all  this,  it  must  be  ad-  I 
mitted  that  there  are  in  the  Englishman  certain  peculiarities  of 
temperament  which  constantly  rub  the  superior  Indian  the 
wrong  way,  and  which  largely  explain  the  "  Indian  unrest"  that 
has  been  so  widely  advertised  through  the  world.  To  sum  up 
in  one  word  the  root  of  the  difficulty,  the  Anglo-Indian  is  sur- 
prisingly indifferent  toward  almost  everything  native.  There 
are,  of  course,  many  glorious  exceptions.  The  English  mission- 
aries, for  instance,  are  not  only  intensely  interested,  but  as  a 
rule  well  informed  as  to  the  ideas  and  ideals  of  the  people  to 
whom  they  minister  so  devotedly.  And  the  English  civil  ser- 
vants and  business  men  are  well  acquainted  with  those  sides  of 
Indian  life  with  which  they  come  in  contact  in  the  performance 
of  their  duties.  But  as  to  Indian  thought,  religion,  traditions, 
and  ways  of  viewing  things,  most  of  the  Englishmen  I  met 
seemed  to  me  singularly  lacking  in  curiosity  or  interest.  The 
European  colony  lives  by  itself  at  one  end  of  the  town,  form- 
ing a  little  England,  and  (except  for  its  servants)  having  no 
more  to  do  with  the  native  life  than  has  some  town  in  Kent  or 
Sussex.  The  whole  colony  will  turn  out  to  see  a  hundred  Eng- 
lish soldiers  from  the  garrison  march  past;  but  a  hundred  thou- 
sand natives  may  come  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  town,  forming 
a  scene  which  for  color  and  picturesqueness  is  hardly  to  be 

7 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

matched,  and  not  a  sahib  or  memsahib  will  step  out  of  the 
bungalow  to  see  it.  Many,  in  fact,  seem  to  think  that  any  such 
interest  in  the  "natives"  would  be  derogatory  to  their  dignity 
and  quite  unworthy  of  a  white  man. 

No  one  has  more  admiration  than  I  for  the  many  admirable 
qualities  of  our  British  cousins  nor  for  the  devotion  with  which 
numbers  of  them  are  giving  their  lives  to  India;  yet  I  cannot 
help  feeling  at  least  amused  at  the  odd  provincialism  whicli 
many  of  them  so  naively  manifest.  I  remember  one  in  Venice 
who  insisted  that  the  trouble  with  coffee  and  rolls  was  not  that 
it  was  a  poor  breakfast,  but  that  it  was  n't  a  breakfast;  for  a 
breakfast  consists  of  meat  and  potatoes.  To  the  Englishman  of 
this  type  there  are  not  various  possible  opinions  or  points  of 
view,  some  better,  some  worse;  there  is  only  one  point  of  view, 
namely,  his.  It  is  this  peculiar  lack  of  imagination  that  makes 
dear  old  John  Bull  so  positive,  so  straightforward,  and  so  amus- 
ing: it  has  never  occurred  to  him  (as  William  James  would 
have  put  it)  that  the  Indians  "have  insides  of  their  own." 

This  indifference  and  persistent  provincialism  makes  the 
typical  Briton  quite  blind  to  much  that  is  fine  in  Indian  society. 
Thus,  one  English  gentleman  whom  I  met  —  a  man  who  had 
lived  in  Calcutta  and  other  parts  of  the  East  for  years  —  said 
tome:  "The  natives  are  all  just  a  lot  of  animals;  don't  3^ou  think 
so?"  I  answered  that  my  impression  was  quite  different;  that, 
for  instance,  just  the  week  before  I  had  in  Calcutta  made  the 
acquaintance  of  two  Indian  gentlemen  —  namely  Dr.  Bose,  and 
Tagore  the  poet  —  who,  compared  with  many  of  us  Anglo- 
Saxons,  were  intellectual  giants.  At  this  he  was  greatly  as- 
tonished and  asked  who  Dr.  Bose  might  be.  I  told  him  that 
Dr.  Bose  was  one  of  the  greatest  botanists  living,  a  man  whose 
discoveries  are  known  over  all  the  world,  and  who  has  been 
invited  to  lecture  at  American  and  German  universities  and 
before  the  Royal  Society  in  London. 

"I  never  heard  of  him,"  replied  the  Englishman:  "but  I 
have  heard  of  Tagore,  the  man  who  got  the  Nobel  Prize.  — 
But  I  don't  think  much  of  his  poetry;  do  you?" 

To  my  response  that  I  thought  a  great  deal  of  Tagore's 
poetry,  he  ejaculated:  — 

"Well,  really!  However,  I  suppose  there  must  be  something 
8 


ON   AVOIDING   MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

in  it  since  he  got  the  Nobel  Prize.  But  it  can't  be  really  poetry, 
you  know;  because  it  does  n't  rhyme.'' 

This  lack  of  interest  in  native  life  as  such,  and  the  proud 
manifestation  of  conscious  superiority  that  goes  with  it,  shows 
itself  in  the  coarser  natures  in  a  contempt  for  the  "  black  man" 
and  a  constant  swagger  of  putting  him  in  his  place.  "How  do 
you  like  the  Indians?"  I  asked  a  traveling  salesman  of  this 
type,  who  told  me  that  he  had  lived  most  of  his  life  in  the  East. 
"How do  I  like  'em?"  was  the  reply.  " I  'd  like  to  expectorate 
in  their  eyes."  Vulgar  brutality  of  this  sort  is  not  common: 
but  most  Englishmen  take  good  care  that  all  "natives"  shall 
realize  the  immense  abyss  that  extends  between  them  and  the 
superior  race  of  sahibs.  To  keep  this  impressed  steadily  upon 
the  native,  no  Englishman  in  India  will  carry  anything  in  pub- 
lic; and  one  often  comes  upon  the  rather  amusing  picture  of  a 
big  athletic  sahib  pacing  through  the  middle  of  the  street  (if, 
indeed,  he  walks  at  all),  a  big  stick  in  one  hand  and  nothing  in 
the  other,  while  a  diminutive  native  follows  humbly  after 
"Master,"  carrying  a  small  book.  A  sahib  could  not  carry 
anything  so  large  as  a  book  —  far  be  it  from  him!  For  (with 
rare  exceptions)  every  Englishman,  big  or  little,  that  you  meet 
in  India  takes  himself  and  his  position  very  seriously,  and 
seems  to  feel  that  the  dignity  of  the  Empire  rests  upon  his 
shoulders  and  that  Great  Britain  would  be  dishonored  if  he 
should  for  a  moment  forget,  or  allow  any  one  else  to  forget,  the 
proper  distance  between  him  and  all  natives.  To  maintain 
the  Heaven-decreed  preeminence  of  the  Briton  over  all  black 
men  and  heathen  is  his  first  obligation;  and  he  is  always  mind- 
ful of  the  fact  that  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty. 

As  a  result  of  this  indifference  to  and  contempt  for  the  na- 
tives, most  of  the  Anglo-Indians  that  I  know  anything  about 
are  very  ignorant  concerning  the  religions  of  India  and  de- 
cidedly prejudiced  against  them.  Personally,  I  think  that  the 
opinions  of  nine  Englishmen  out  of  ten  on  the  subject  of  Indian 
religions  are  entirely  untrustworthy.  For  the  most  part,  such 
opinions  seem  to  be  formed  at  home  and  brought  out  to  India, 
based  on  the  talk  of  predecessors  equally  ignorant,  and  retained 
without  substantial  revision  and  even  without  questioning. 
Many  of  these  Englishmen  —  most  of  them  —  are  splendid 

9 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

fellows;  yet  their  prepossession  that  no  good  thing  can  come 
out  of  Nazareth  is  so  strong  that  when  they  come  in  contact 
with  an  Indian  who  is  head  and  shoulders  their  intellectual 
superior  they  remain  sublimely  ignorant  of  the  fact,  and  keep 
on  insisting  to  the  end  of  their  days  that  they  never  met  a  na- 
tive who  could  think.  What  might  be  called  a  symbolic  illustra- 
tion of  this  interesting  state  of  mind  came  to  me  at  Agra.  We 
met  there  a  Scotch  trained  nurse  who  had  spent  years  in  India 
and  had  lived  in  most  of  the  hill  stations.  "Do  tell  us  about 
the  Himalayas!"  said  my  wife  to  her.  "Umph,  the  Hima- 
layas," she  responded;  "of  course  they  are  very  high.  But  for 
grandeur  they  can't  compare  with  the  Highlands  of  Scotland." 

This  dissertation  of  mine  on  the  four  points  of  view  to  be 
avoided  has  been,  perhaps,  unpardonably  long.  But  if  one  is 
to  understand  the  religion  of  a  people  it  is  necessary  to  ap- 
proach it  in  the  right  way.  Knowledge  is  necessary,  but  knowl- 
edge alone  is  not  sufficient.  It  is  so  easy,  on  the  one  hand,  to  be 
enthusiastically  "sympathetic";  so  easy  also  to  be  morally  in- 
dignant or  complacently  superior;  and  so  hard  to  be  just. 

Besides  these  four  suspicious  sources  of  information,  or 
points  of  view,  there  is  a  rather  common  method  of  judging  re- 
ligions other  than  one's  own  which  also  ought  to  be  avoided. 
This  method,  which  I  suspect  is  commoner  than  most  of  us 
think,  consists  in  comparing  the  actual  practice  of  the  foreign 
religion  with  the  ideal  side  of  our  own.  We  are  constantly  as- 
serting that  our  actual  Christianity  falls  far  short  of  what  it 
means  to  be ;  we  remind  ourselves  that  there  neither  is  nor  ever 
has  been  a  really  Christian  nation  or  community.  But  we  do 
not  stop  to  ask  if  there  ever  has  been  or  is  now  a  really  Mo- 
hammedan or  Hindu  or  Zoroastrian  or  Buddhist  community 
or  nation.  We  are  indignant  if  our  Western  vices  are  laid  to  the 
charge  of  Christianity;  yet  we  are  sometimes  eager  to  point  out 
that  drunkenness  exists  in  Mohammedan  communities.  And 
if  some  Moslem  reminds  us  that  drinking  is  strictly  forbidden 
by  the  Koran,  we  respond,  "Ah,  but  we  must  judge  your  relig- 
ion not  by  what  it  professes,  but  by  what  it  does."  Or  one 
may  often  hear  assertions  like  this:  "Yes,  Buddhism  probably 
has  certain  fine  features;  but  the  Buddhists  do  not  live  up  to 
their  religion!"  It  would  be  well  for  us  to  meditate  occa- 
10 


i 


ON   AVOIDING   MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

sionally  on  the  exclamation  of  the  Russian  Jewess,  reported 
by  Mary  An  tin:  "I  did  not  know  that  a  Christian  could  be 
kind." 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  just 
appreciation  of  a  strange  religion  is  to  be  found  in  the  matter  of 
worship.  None  of  us,  I  suppose,  are  aware  how  thoroughly 
provincial  we  are  on  this  point.  In  spite  of  all  our  fine  senti- 
ments and  liberal  ideas,  most  of  us  really  feel  about  worship  as 
the  Englishman  felt  about  breakfast :  there  is  only  one  kind  and 
that  is  our  kind.  When  we  go  for  the  first  time  into  a  Hindu 
temple  we  all  feel  a  strong  sense  of  disgust  and  usually  Httle 
else.  I  believe  that  much  of  this  disgust  is  justified.  It  may 
be  my  own  ineradicable  provincialism  that  makes  me  believe 
so.  But  I  am  sure  that  there  are  present  in  the  temple  worship 
elements  that  we  do  not  see,  elements  that  are  hidden  from  us 
by  the  shock  of  surprise  and  novelty  and  contrast.  Such  small 
details  as  the  fact  that  a  drum  is  used  instead  of  an  organ,  that 
Indian  music  is  different  from  European  music,  that  Indian  art 
is  different  from  European  art,  and  that  the  language  of  the 
ritual  is  to  us  unknown  —  these  are  enough  to  make  many  a 
tourist  turn  away  with  the  conviction  that  Hindu  ceremonies 
are  all  "mummery"  or  "devil  worship."  The  gong  and  the 
drum  and  the  chanting  issuing  from  the  temple  sound  strange 
and  "outlandish"  to  us,  and  we  at  once  feel  a  sense  of  fear,  and 
conjure  up  a  picture,  perhaps,  of  human  sacrifice  or  of  "magic 
rites"  (whatever  these  may  be!)  —  and  draw  our  conclusions 
as  to  the  heathen.  We  strangers  and  onlookers  see  the  outside 
only  and  forget  that  there  is  any  inside.  A  recent  Hindu  writer 
points  out  a  similar  case  reported  in  the  Mahabharata,  only 
here  it  was  the  Indian  traveler  who  observed  —  and  misinter- 
preted —  a  Christian  ceremony.  It  was  early  in  our  era  that 
this  Indian  tourist  was  present  at  a  communion  service  in  a 
Christian  church  in  Asia  Minor.  He  came  away  and  described 
the  Christians  as  a  people  who  "ate  up  the  God  they  wor- 
shiped." Mr.  Bepin  Chandra  Pal,  from,  whom  I  take  this,  adds: 
"Seen  with  the  eye  alone,  this  is  a  faithful  description  of  the 
Christian  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist.  .  .  .  The  writer  saw 
from  the  outside:  cognized  with  his  senses  certain  physical 
acts  of  the  Christian  worshipers.  He  had  not  the  right  key  to 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

the  interpretation  of  these  outer  acts.  He  put  his  own  mean- 
ing on  these  in  the  Hght  of  his  own  pecuHar  experience.  What 
he  saw  was  a  fact,  yet  how  misleading  is  his  interpretation  of 
what  he  had  seen.  And  the  story  illustrates  very  clearly  the 
general  character  of  the  interpretations  put  upon  our  life  and 
institutions  by  European  scholars  and  students."  ^ 

A  little  consideration  and  a  little  reflection  on  our  own  ex- 
perience at  home  surely  should  free  us  from  this  blunder.  The 
Protestant  who  for  the  first  time  attends  a  Catholic  mass  comes 
away  feeling  it  is  all  "mummery";  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  it  is  so  different  from  a  Protestant  service.  The  congre- 
gation doesn't  sing  hymns  and  the  priest  doesn't  "lead"  in  a 
"long  prayer";  and  surely  a  "service"  without  "congrega- 
tional singing"  and  "the  long  prayer"  is  no  more  a  service 
than  breakfast  without  meat  and  potatoes  is,  for  the  English- 
man, a  breakfast.  Yet,  when  the  Protestant  comes  better  to 
understand  the  mass,  he  finds  that  its  "mummery"  is  to  hun- 
dreds of  earnest  souls  the  most  sacred  of  symbols,  and  that 
though  the  priest  does  not  "lead  in  prayer,"  the  congregation 
is  praying  none  the  less,  and  with  a  fervor  and  earnestness 
perhaps  not  notably  inferior  to  that  which  marks  the  usual 
mind-wandering  of  a  Protestant  audience.  In  like  manner  we 
should  remind  ourselves  that  the  very  "outlandishness"  of 
the  Hindu,  Buddhist,  or  Jaina  worship  may  hide  from  us  what 
to  the  kneeling  worshipers  is  the  most  precious  symbol  of  the 
Divine. 

And  here  we  touch  the  very  heart  of  the  difficult^',  the  cause 
of  most  of  the  spiritual  blindness  that  separates  peoples  of 
different  faiths.  We  do  not  understand  one  another's  symbols, 
and  we  seldom  try.  And  this  is  partly  because  we  have  not 
stopped  to  consider  the  tremendous  importance  of  symbolism 
in  religion,  its  universality,  and  the  method  of  its  growth.  If 
we  should  all  realize  in  what  varied  forms  the  same  truth  or 
the  same  emotional  attitude  may  be  symboled  forth,  there 
would  be  less  mutual  recrimination  between  followers  of  differ- 
ent faiths. 

It  takes  years  for  a  symbol  to  gain  its  full  force  over  an  in- 
dividual or  a  race.   One  must  grow  up  with  it.    It  gathers  its 
»  The  Soul  oj  India  (Calcutta,  Choudhury,  191 1),  pp.  13-14- 
12 


ON   AVOIDING  MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

strength  from  the  whole  life  and  the  whole  environment.  It 
does  not  greatly  matter  what  the  symbol  is:  anything  will  do 
provided  it  has  by  the  steady  growth  of  a  lifetime  and  by  the 
aid  of  the  whole  social  environment  drawn  around  itself  the 
spiritual  attitudes  and  sentiments  which  the  race  most  prizes. 
Thus,  it  takes  a  whole  life  thoroughly  to  understand  a  symbol: 
from  which  it  follows  that  one  can  never  completely  under- 
stand the  full  force  and  the  emotional  meaning  and  value  of  a 
symbol  belonging  to  a  strange  people  and  a  strange  culture.  In 
symbolism  we  all  tend  to  be  extremely  provincial.  We  insist 
that  other  peoples  shall  adopt  our  symbols,  without  realizing 
that  our  symbols  may  be  as  strange  and  incomprehensible  to 
them  as  theirs  are  to  us.  We  cannot  understand  how  any  one 
can  find  strength  or  comfort  in  Kali,  the  great  Hindu  Mother, 
with  her  string  of  skulls  and  her  bloody  mouth.  We  see  the 
Hindu  deities  presented  with  from  four  to  ten  arms,  and  we  say 
they  look  like  spiders  and  must  be  horrid;  not  realizing  that  to 
the  Hindus  these  many  arms  mean  the  all-enfolding  powers  of 
the  Divine.  And  it  never  occurs  to  us  that  the  Indian  would 
find  it  hard  to  appreciate  some  of  our  emblems  and  figures  of 
speech.  To  say  nothing  of  the  strange  symbolism  of  early 
Christian  art,  —  the  fish  and  the  various  beasts  to  which  we 
have  grown  accustomed,  —  consider  our  present  constant  em- 
phasis upon  hlood  —  the  picture  of  moral  guilt  being  "washed 
away"  by  the  application  of  blood, ^  etc.  Then  there  are  the 
various  symbols  connected  with  the  "Lamb  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world"  —  "the  Lamb  upon  the  Throne, 
crowned  with  many  crowns."  (Try  to  visualize  the  picture!) 
There  is  also  the  trefoil  representing  the  Trinity.  And  is  not 
the  Trinity  itself  a  kind  of  symbol  —  a  symbol  of  which  the 
meaning  seems  quite  uncertain? 

Yet,  while  we  can  hardly  hope  to  share  with  our  Indian 
brothers  their  feeling  for  their  symbols,  nor  expect  them  fully 
to  appreciate  ours,  we  can  at  least  cultivate  a  sympathetic  at- 
titude toward  one  another's  symbols  if  we  only  will.  And  if  we 

*  The  first  of  a  list  of  questions  which  some  of  the  Benares  missionaries 
have  written  out  for  the  newly  made  converts  to  answer  and  study  is  this: 
"What  can  wash  away  sin? "  And  of  course  the  answer,  which  the  converts 
have  to  learn,  is:  "Not  Ganges  water,  but  blood." 

13 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

really  make  the  effort  to  do  this,  —  instead  of  satisfying  our- 
selves with  clever  ejaculations  as  to  their  absurdities,  —  we 
may  gain  some  sort  of  insight  into  their  spiritual  value.  This  is 
the  only  way.  It  was  thus,  for  instance,  that  Sister  Nivedita 
won  the  insight  which  so  distinguishes  her  among  writers  on 
India.  The  story  of  her  learning  the  significance  of  Kali,  the 
Great  Mother,  will  illustrate  what  I  mean.  One  evening  shortly 
after  her  arrival  in  Calcutta,  she  heard  a  cry  in  a  quiet  lane, 
and  following  her  ears,  found  it  came  from  a  little  Hindu  girl 
who  lay  in  her  mother's  arms,  dying.  The  end  came  soon,  and 
the  poor  mother  for  a  time  wept  inconsolably.  Then  at  last, 
wearied  with  her  sobbing,  she  fell  back  into  Sister  Nivedita's 
arms,  and  turning  to  her,  said :  "  Oh,  what  shall  I  do?  Where  is 
my  child  now?"  And  Sister  Nivedita  adds:  "  I  have  always 
regarded  that  as  the  moment  when  I  found  the  key.  Filled 
with  a  sudden  pity,  not  so  much  for  the  bereaved  woman  as  for 
those  to  whom  the  use  of  some  particular  language  of  the  Infin- 
ite is  a  question  of  morality,  I  leaned  forward.  '  Hush,  mother ! ' 
I  said.  'Your  child  is  with  the  Great  Mother.  She  is  with 
Kali!'  And  for  a  moment,  with  memory  stilled,  we  were  en- 
folded together.  Eastern  and  Western,  in  the  unfathomable 
depth  of  consolation  of  the  World-Heart." 


CHAPTER   II 

HINDU  WORSHIP 

WHEN  you  have  climbed  the  steps  and  taken  oflf  your 
shoes,  you  may  enter  the  inner  court  of  the  temple. 
Just  inside  the  gate  is  a  basin  with  flowing  water  and  beside  it  a 
little  image  of  Ganesh,  the  fat  god  with  the  elephant  head;  and 
at  the  other  end  of  the  court  stands  the  temple  proper,  con- 
sisting of  three  large  shrines,  each  roofed  over,  but  quite  open 
in  front.  In  the  central  one  sits  Shiva  or  Mahadev  (the  "Great 
God"),  with  his  wife  Parvati  by  his  side.  The  shrine  on  his 
right  is  occupied  by  Vishnu  and  his  wife  Lakshmi,  while  in  the 
third  shrine  is  the  goddess  Jumna,  unattended.  To  find  both 
Shiva  and  Vishnu  in  the  same  temple  is  not  usual,  nor  is  the 
goddess  of  the  Jumna  River  commonly  met  with.  But  this  is 
in  Delhi,  and  that  will  explain  her  presence  at  least.  Perhaps 
I  should  have  begun  this  chapter  with  a  description  of  some 
Hindu  temple  that  was  in  all  respects  "t>-pical";  but  this 
particular  one  was  the  first  I  had  been  allowed  to  enter,  so  I 
shall  take  the  reader  into  it  along  with  me. 

It  was  evident  at  once  that  this  was  not  a  church,  but  a 
temple  —  or  should  I  say  a  palace  ?  The  five  images  were  all 
gorgeously  clad,^  and  were  granting  an  audience  to  their  faith- 
ful subjects.  The  subjects  were  present  too  and  doing  homage, 
not  in  ver>'  great  numbers  at  any  one  time,  to  be  sure  (for  this 
was  not  a  ser\'ice),  but  in  a  constantly  flowing  stream,  arriving 
and  departing.  I  stood  and  watched  them  for  some  time  —  for 
I  found  the  worshipers  more  interesting  than  the  gods.  They 
were  all  men,  and  they  were  all  very  much  in  earnest  and  very 
reverent.  On  entering  the  court  each  would  first  ring  a  bell  that 
hung  over  the  gateway,  then  wash  his  hands  at  the  basin  and, 
turning  toward  the  shrine  where  he  meant  to  worship,  bow 
lowly,  then  rise,  or  perhaps  prostrate  himself  upon  the  floor, 

*  Cf.  the  Roman  Catholic  custom  of  clothing  images  of  the  Madonna 
with  costly  silks  and  jewels. 

15 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  pray  silently.  Some  went  forward  into  the  shrine  and  made 
offerings  before  the  images.  These  offerings  were  usually  either 
flowers,  rice,  and  bunches  of  certain  leaves,  or  money;  and  if  the 
latter,  the  priest  who  has  charge  of  the  temple  is  supposed  to 
use  it  for  the  purchase  of  flowers  for  the  god.^  But  the  priest 
was  not  in  evidence ;  no  one  was  mediating  between  the  god  and 
his  worshipers,  who  brought  their  adoration  and  their  requests 
very  simply  and  silently  and  directly  to  the  deity.  Not  a  word 
was  spoken  aloud,  nor  was  there  any  audible  murmuring  as 
there  is  so  often  in  Catholic  churches.  The  men  were  simply 
standing  there  in  the  court  or  within  the  shrine,  a  few  prostrate 
or  kneeling,  all  looking  intently  at  the  image  of  their  chosen 
deity,  and  all  very  evidently  praying.  His  prayer  finished,  the 
worshiper  bows  again,  or  more  often  prostrates  himself,  touch- 
ing the  floor  with  his  forehead,  and  steps  out  with  silent  feet, 
walking  backward  till  out  of  the  temple,  so  as  not  to  turn  his 
back  on  the  god.  At  the  gate  he  rings  the  bell  again  and  de- 
parts, to  give  place  to  some  one  else.  This  tinkling  bell  of  ar- 
riving and  departing  worshipers  is  the  only  sound  one  hears. 

One  of  these  worshipers,  wearing  the  horizontal  marks  of 
Shiva  on  his  forehead,  could  speak  English;  and,  following  the 
almost  invariable  custom  throughout  India,  he  did  his  best  to 
welcome  the  stranger.  I  asked  him  to  tell  me  about  his  offer- 
ings and  prayers.  He  said  that  he  chooses  as  offerings  to  "  god  " 
things  he  himself  likes;  not  with  any  idea  that  "god"  will  use 
them,  but  that  "god"  is  pleased  with  the  gift  as  a  sign  of  hom- 
age and  humility.  After  presenting  his  gift  he  prays.  His 
prayer  consists  of  (i)  pronouncing  the  deity's  name;  (2)  re- 
peating certain  verses  which  he  has  learned  and  which  differ 
according  to  the  god  worshiped;  and  (3)  making  certain  peti- 
tions of  his  own.  Thus,  if  he  wants  success  in  a  business  trans- 
action, or  if  his  child  is  ill,  he  comes  and  asks  help  of  Shiva. 
"And,"  he  added  with  great  confidence,  '* Shiva  gives  it  — 
Shiva  does  give  it!'' 

A  scene  such  as  this  represents  the  informal  temple  worship 
of  the  laymen.  But  the  gods  are  also  formally  worshiped, 
sometimes  by  the  priest  alone,  sometimes  by  priest  and  people, 

•  From  what  I  know  of  Brahmin  priests  I  think  Shiva  would  prefer  his 
worshipers  should  make  their  offerings  in  kind, 

16 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

In  a  regular  ceremony  of  more  or  less  complexity.  Such  a  cere- 
mony of  homage  is  known  as  piija,  and  in  most  of  the  temples 
it  occurs  at  least  once  a  day.  The  layman  may  do  puja  of  a 
modest  and  simple  sort,  but  the  more  elaborate  pujas  are  per- 
formed by  Brahmin  priests.  Every  temple  has  from  one  to 
forty  or  more  priests,  whose  duty  it  is  to  perform  the  daily  cult. 
In  the  larger  temples  this  is  a  complex  business  and  requires 
many  priests:  but  it  is  less  confusing  to  watch  it  in  a  small 
shrine  where  only  one  priest  is  officiating.  One  may  see  it  in 
any  part  of  India,  but  the  particular  ceremony  that  I  happen 
to  remember  best  was  up  in  Hardwar.  It  was  in  a  small  Shiva 
temple,  which  consisted  merely  of  a  room  perhaps  fifteen  feet 
square,  in  the  center  of  which  was  a  stone  lingam,  and  near  by  a 
sculptured  bull,  kneeling  toward  it.  The  lingam  is  the  common- 
est of  all  religious  objects  in  India,'  and  almost  invariably  takes 
the  place  of  the  image  in  Shiva  temples.  It  looks  like  a  short 
column  with  rounded  top  and  is  in  fact  a  phallic  emblem.  Its 
exact  origin  is  quite  lost  in  antiquity,  but  phallic  symbols  are 
common  the  world  over,  and  this  one,  like  the  rest,  probably 
originated  as  the  emblem  of  some  primitive  god  of  procreation, 
and  seems  to  have  been  assimilated  to  the  worship  of  Shiva 
when  the  relatively  uncultured  people  with  whom  it  originated 
were  admitted  into  Hinduism.  That  this  took  place  at  Benares 
would  probably  be  a  good  guess,  though  a  guess  that  can  hardly 
be  verified.  At  any  rate,  Shiva  and  the  lingam  have  for  many 
centuries  grown  together,  and  the  lingam  has  for  nearly  all  his 
worshipers  quite  lost  all  sexual  significance,  and  is  simply  the 
object  in  which  Mahadev,  the  Great  God,  chooses  to  incarnate 
himself  for  the  purposes  of  worship.  As  the  other  gods  dwell 
for  ritualistic  purposes  in  their  images,  so  Shiva  dwells  within 
the  lingam. 

The  kneeling  bull  close  by  is  faithful  Nandi,  the  "vehicle" 
or  "mount"  of  Shiva;  and  wherever  you  find  a  lingam  you  are 
likely  to  find  Nandi,  sculptured  in  perpetual  adoration  of  the 
Great  God's  symbol.  In  addition  to  Nandi  two  or  three  images 
of  other  deities  are  usually  found  in  subordinate  positions  in  a 
Shiva  temple.  Shiva's  wife  Parvati  and  his  eldest  son,  the 
elephant-headed  Ganesh,  are  almost  invariably  of  this  number; 
^  Monier  Williams  says  there  are  30,000,000  of  them. 
17 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  in  the  south  of  India  his  second  son  Kartikkeya,  or  Sub- 
rahmanya,  the  Indian  Mars,  is  usually  represented  with  the 
rest  of  the  family.  In  the  north  one  seldom  finds  him,  but  Hanu- 
man,  the  monkey  god,  often  takes  his  place.  So  it  was  in  the 
temple  at  Hardwar  —  the  great  lingam  in  the  center  with  faith- 
ful Nandi  near  by,  while  images  of  Parvati,  Ganesh,  and  Hanu- 
man  —  covered  with  glaring  red  paint  —  were  on  the  walls.  No 
worshipers  were  present,  but  the  old  priest  was  busy  at  his 
morning's  devotions  when  we  arrived.  He  had  already  covered 
the  lingam  with  flowers  —  a  long  process,  since  these  must  be 
laid  on  one  by  one  and  each  with  the  proper  formula  —  and 
had  performed  many  a  ceremonial  libation  of  Ganges  water 
upon  the  flower-bedecked  symbol.  And  now  he  began  offering 
flowers,  one  at  a  time,  to  the  subordinate  deities  on  the  wall,  in- 
toning, as  he  did  so,  "Ganesh  Om!"  "Hanuman  Om!"  "Par- 
vati Om ! "  Next  he  put  a  number  of  leaves,  one  by  one,  on  the 
lingam,  saying,  "Shiva  Om!"  after  which  he  presented  a  few 
to  the  other  deities.  Then  he  touched  the  feet  of  the  three 
images  with  his  hands  and  put  his  hands  to  his  head  —  the 
Indian  token  of  homage — "taking  the  dust  from  the  feet," 
they  call  it.  The  lingam  had  now  to  be  marked  for  the  day, 
and  the  priest  did  this  by  daubing  it  with  streaks  of  brownish 
paint  with  his  thumb.  Then,  standing  before  the  lingam  and 
fingering  his  beads,  he  repeated  many  times,  "Shiva  Om! 
Shiva  Om ! "  together  with  other  words  which  I  could  not  catch ; 
after  which  he  put  his  beads  back  around  his  neck  and  intoned 
many  verses  or  prayers.^ 

The  offerings  to  the  gods,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  consist 
usually  of  flowers,  leaves,  rice,  and  water.  In  Vedic  tifmes  the 
gods  received  animal  sacrifices,  but  this  practice  was  given  up 
in  the  worship  of  most  of  the  gods  when  the  belief  in  transmi- 
gration made  animal  life  sacred  to  the  Hindus.  In  the  worship 
of  Vishnu  no  life  is  ever  taken  nor  are  any  bloody  sacrifices  re- 
ceived, and,  with  very  rare  exceptions,  the  same  is  true  of  the 
worship  of  Shiva.  This  is  not  the  case,  however,  with  all  the 

^  For  a  more  detailed  description  of  puja  in  Shiva  and  Vishnu  temples  see 
Monier  Williams,  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism  (4th  ed.,  New  York,  Mac- 
millan,  1891),  pp.  93-94,  144-45,  and  438-41;  also  Farquhar's  Crown  of 
Hinduism  (Oxford,  1913),  pp.  313-14. 

18 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

gcxis.^  Particularly  Kali,  who  may  be  called  the  goddess  of 
Nature  or  the  goddess  of  Death,  is  not  satisfied  with  a  vege- 
table diet,  but  demands  at  certain  intervals  —  usually  once  a 
week  —  a  bloody  sacrifice.  Every  Thursday  morning  in  Be- 
nares four  goats  are  offered  to  her.  The  animal  is  tied  to  a  post 
in  front  of  the  temple,  a  woman  holds  him  by  his  legs,  and  the 
religious  executioner  severs  his  head  from  his  body  with  one 
stroke  of  a  heavy  knife.  The  head  is  then  borne  into  the  temple 
and  presented  before  Kali's  image;  while  the  body  makes  a 
sacred  and  pleasant  meal  for  the  temple  priests.  Bloody  sacri- 
fices reach  their  climax  during  the  Durga  Puja  at  the  Kalighat 
temple  in  Calcutta.  "The  temple  almost  swims  with  blood, 
and  the  smell  is  most  sickening.  The  people  bring  their  vic- 
tims, pay  the  fee,  and  the  priest  puts  a  little  red  lead  on  the 
animal's  head.  When  its  turn  comes  the  executioner  takes  the 
animal,  fixes  its  head  in  a  frame,  and  then  beheads  it.  A  little 
of  the  blood  is  placed  in  front  of  the  idol  and  the  pilgrim  takes 
away  the  headless  body."  ^  A  little  human  blood  (not  enough 
to  do  any  great  harm)  Kali  considers  a  particular  relish.  Mr. 
Murdoch  quotes  a  learned  Hindu  as  saying,  "There  is  scarcely 
a  respectable  house  in  Bengal  the  mistress  of  which  has  not  at 
one  time  or  other  shed  her  own  blood  under  the  notion  of  satis- 
fying the  goddess  by  the  operation."^    Other  things  besides 

*  "  Goats,  kids,  chickens,  buffaloes  are  offered  here  and  there  in  sacrifice. 
.  .  .  One  poor  fellow  once  told  me  he  had  done  everything  he  knew  to  cure 
his  sick  wife  and  all  to  no  avail;  now  he  was  leaving  her  alone  for  the  time 
while  he  walked  twelve  miles  to  a  place  to  offer  a  kid  in  sacrifice.  This 
was  his  last  resort."  (Stover,  India:  A  Problem  [Elgin,  111.,  Brethren  Pub. 
House,  1903],  p.  152.)  There  is  a  very  persistent  movement  on  foot  all  over 
India,  on  the  part  of  many  Hindus  and  most  Jainas,  to  put  a  stop  to  animal 
sacrifice  altogether,  both  by  rousing  public  opinion  against  it  and  by  induc- 
ing the  various  local  authorities  to  forbid  it.  Scarcely  a  month  passes  that 
there  is  not  a  notice  in  the  Jaina  Gazette  of  some  noble  and  merciful  rajah 
having  prohibited  animal  sacrifice  within  his  domains,  or  a  very  emotional 
petition,  signed  by  Jainas  and  Hindus,  to  some  other  rajah  to  do  the  same. 

2  J.  Murdoch,  Siva  Bhakti  (Madras,  Christian  Lit.  Society,  1902),  p.  24. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  25.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  this  sentence  was 
written  about  twenty  years  ago.  Apparently  the  custom  is  a  survival  of  the 
rite  of  human  sacrifice  which  used  to  be  performed  in  honor  of  the  blood- 
thirsty goddess  before  the  English  became  masters  of  the  land.  And  accord- 
ing to  Rev.  Mr.  Martin,  "there  seems  reason  to  suspect  that  even  at  the 
present  day  sacrifices  are  occasionally  performed  secretly  in  the  shrines  of 
Kali  or  Durga  Devi.  There  are  numerous  modern  instances  in  Nepal.  At 
Benares  one  recently  occurred.  At  Chanda  and  Lanjii,  near  Nagpur,  there 

19 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

edibles  and  flowers  are  also  occasionally  ofi^ered  to  the  gods, 
for  the  worshiper  wishes  to  present  the  deity  with  anything  he 
thinks  the  deity  would  like.  Two  favorite  offerings  in  Shiva 
temples  are  incense  and  the  waving  of  lamps,  in  which  ghi 
(liquefied  butter)  is  burned  on  cotton  wicks.  In  some  of  the 
temples  of  Krishna,  where  the  god  is  represented  as  an  infant, 
tiny  caps,  children's  fans,  and  other  adornments  for  the  divine 
child  are  brought  by  the  faithful  —  in  fact,  there  are  shops  full 
of  them  just  outside  of  the  temple  precincts  for  the  benefit  of 
the  worshipers.  The  large  temples  in  the  south  of  India  are 
provided  with  dancing  girls  who  perform  on  various  occasions 
in  honor  of  the  god  and  presumably  for  his  delectation  —  girls, 
I  should  add,  consecrated  in  youth  to  the  service  of  the  tem- 
ple, and  whose  official  duty  is  not  confined  merely  to  dancing. 

The  worshipers,  as  I  have  said,  may  go  to  the  temple  and 
pray  without  the  mediation  of  the  priest;  and  every  day  the 
priest  officially  performs  the  proper  rites  for  the  benefit  of  the 
god.  And  Shiva  at  least  may  also  be  worshiped  automatically, 
without  any  worshipers  being  present  at  all,  for  the  form  of 
worship  most  pleasing  to  him  is  the  libation  of  water  upon  the 
lingam.  Hence  a  clever  device  has  been  invented  for  this  pur- 
pose: a  good-sized  water- tank,  filled  with  Ganges  water,  is  sus- 
pended over  a  lingam,  with  a  tiny  opening  arranged  in  such  a 
way  that  one  or  two  drops  of  the  sacred  liquid  shall  fall  every 
minute  upon  Shiva's  emblem.  Thus  is  the  perpetual  adoration 
of  the  Great  God  maintained  without  any  further  work  being 
involved  than  the  occasional  filling  of  the  tank. 

But  besides  these  simple  modes  of  worship  there  are  more 
elaborate  services  in  which  priest  and  people  unite.  Any  morn- 
ing one  may  witness  these  —  from  outside  the  door  —  in  half  a 

are  shrines  to  Kali  at  which  human  sacrifices  to  the  goddess  have  been 
offered  almost  within  the  memory  of  the  present  generation."  {TJie  Gods  of 
India  [London,  Dent,  1914],  p.  188.)  In  the  past,  of  course,  human  sacrifice 
in  India  was  not  confined  to  Hinduism  and  the  cult  of  Kali.  A  number  of 
semi-barbarous  and  animistic  tribes  have  practiced  the  rite,  notably  the 
Kondhs.  Mr.  Thurston,  in  his  Omens  and  Superstitions  of  Southern  India 
(New  York,  McBride,  19 12),  refers  to  several  cases  of  human  sacrifice  among 
them  since  the  year  1880;  and  "even  so  recently  as  1902,  a  European  magis- 
trate in  Ganjam  received  a  petition  asking  for  permission  to  perform  a  hu- 
man sacrifice,  which  was  intended  to  give  a  rich  color  to  the  turmeric  crop" 
{op.  cit.,  p.  206). 

20 


HINDU    WORSHIP 

dozen  temples  In  almost  every  large  city.  There  is  usually  a 
great  deal  of  "music"  from  gongs  and  drums;  hymns  are 
sometimes  sung  (especially  in  the  south) ;  the  priest  makes  the 
common  offering  of  rice  and  flowers  and  Ganges  water,  and 
does  much  chanting;  the  drums  and  gongs  quicken  their  beat, 
and  the  puja  winds  up  in  an  exciting  fifiale  and  noisy  crash, 
with  much  waving  of  flaming  lamps  before  the  god;  after  which 
the  priest  distributes  to  the  audience  the  consecrated  offerings 
and  the  holy  water,  each  worshiper  getting  a  little  to  take 
home  with  him.  Sometimes  these  sacred  things  cannot  be  had 
so  cheaply  —  as  in  the  Krishna  temple  at  Benares,  where  the 
offerings  after  being  presented  to  the  god  are  sold  to  certain 
shops  and  may  there  be  bought  (by  Hindus  only)  at  an  en- 
hanced price. 

Some  of  the  temples  at  Benares  are  thronged  every  morning 
with  pilgrims  from  various  parts  of  India,  and  especially  at  the 
great  fane  known  as  the  Golden  Temple  will  one  find  an  almost 
endless  stream  of  worshipers  filing  inwards,  with  little  brass 
jars  filled  from  the  Ganges  to  be  emptied  piously  on  Shiva's 
lingam.  The  scene  as  one  views  it  through  the  open  door  is 
hardly  edifying:  the  great  lingam  is  barely  visible,  covered  over 
with  yellow  marigolds,  and  constantly  drenched  with  water, 
gongs  and  bells  sounding  in  various  parts  of  the  temple,  priests 
and  pilgrims  nearly  naked  walking  about  from  shrine  to  shrine, 
talking  and  laughing,  a  big  sacred  bull  often  sauntering  in  and 
being  fed,  and  the  floor  awash  with  Ganges  water,  marigold 
petals,  and  cow  dung.  Soon  the  detachment  of  pilgrims  files  out 
to  make  room  for  a  new  lot,  and  as  they  pass  through  the  door 
the  fat  priests  who  stand  there  make  each  one  bow  low  and 
deliver  up  some  of  his  fast-disappearing  savings  —  for  the  glory 
of  god  and  the  dinner  of  the  godly. 

But  it  is  in  the  south  of  India  that  one  sees  the  temple  wor- 
ship in  its  most  elaborate  form.  The  temples  themselves  are 
almost  incredibly  enormous.  They  are  not  buildings,  but  en- 
closures of  many  acres,  with  great  gates  and  towers,  and  (with- 
in) tanks,  temples,  shrines,  halls,  corridors,  storehouses,  and 
sometimes  bazaars  and  dwellings  —  veritable  cities,  in  short, 
reminding  one  strikingly  of  the  great  temples  of  ancient  Egypt. 
The  dimensions  of  the  largest  one  of  them  —  the  temple  of 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Srirangam  (a  local  name  for  Vishnu) ,  near  Trichlnopoly  —  are 
worth  giving.  It  is  2880  feet  long,  2475  feet  wide,  and  is  the 
largest  temple  in  the  world.  Close  by  stands  a  temple  to  Shiva 
almost  as  large,  while  at  Madura,  Tanjore,  Rameswaram,  Thi- 
ruklikundrum,  Puri,  Conjeeveram,  and  various  other  places  are 
temples  only  slightly  smaller.  In  each  of  these  great  enclosures 
is  a  central  shrine  in  which  is  kept  the  most  sacred  image  or 
lingam,  and  before  it  puja  is  elaborately  performed  every  day 
by  a  large  body  of  priests.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  a  special 
form  of  worship  which  one  does  not  find  in  the  north  —  namely, 
the  practice  of  taking  the  god  out  for  a  ride  or  sometimes  for  a 
short  visit  in  the  country.  For  this  purpose  enormous  cars  are 
kept  in  the  temples,  whose  wheels  are  sometimes  seven  feet  or 
more  in  diameter  and  so  heavy  that  it  takes  scores  of  men  to 
draw  them.  I  once  met  one  of  the  gods  returning  in  his  car 
from  a  week  in  the  country,  where  he  had  gone  to  enjoy  the 
bath  in  a  sacred  tank.  It  was  evening  and  a  long  procession 
preceded  and  followed  the  chariot.  First  came  torch-bearers, 
with  drummers  and  cymbal-bearers  and  other  "musicians," 
followed  by  fifty  or  more  men  in  line,  and  then  more  drums  and 
more  torches.  After  these  came  the  enormous  and  most  ornate 
car  and  high  up  upon  it  where  all  could  see  sat  the  image, 
gorgeously  dressed  and  embedded  in  flowers.  Several  Brahmin 
priests  were  riding  on  the  car,  at  the  foot  of  the  image,  and  every 
now  and  then  the  procession  would  stop  to  give  the  pious  an 
opportunity  to  rush  up  and  present  offerings,  chiefly  of  fruit, 
which  the  priests  graciously  accepted  and  placed  before  the 
idol.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  shouting  and  laughing  and 
merrymaking,  and  obviously  every  one  was  having  a  good 
time  —  the  priests  particularly.  Nearly  every  one  seemed  to 
regard  it  as  a  kind  of  lark;  a  kind  of  lark,  it  should  be  added, 
in  which  religion  becomes  a  grown-up  way  of  playing  dolls. 

But  the  most  elaborate  and  memorable  performance  of  the 
sort  that  I  saw  in  India  was  at  the  great  temple  in  Madura. 
The  temple  alone  is  most  mysterious  and  impressive.  You 
enter  it  through  a  gopuram,  or  gateway,  152  feet  high,  and  find 
yourself  in  what  seems  another  world  —  a  forest  of  carved 
columns,  a  forest  of  statues,  one  inner  wall  after  another  and  a 
car\'ed  tower  at  the  passageway  through  each,  a  tank  or  pool 
22 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

as  large  as  a  lake,  with  palm  trees  growing  by  it,  and  now  and 
then  a  vista  through  a  dim  corridor  into  a  dark  shrine  in  the 
very  interior  —  the  holy  of  holies  where  Shiva  dwells  —  lighted 
only  by  twinkling  candles  and  where  you  and  I  are  not  allowed 
to  enter.  In  the  night  the  temple  doubles  its  mystery,  and  the 
corridors  lengthen  out  under  the  influence  of  flaring  torches  and 
thousands  of  tiny  candles.  We  were  fortunate  in  happening 
upon  an  evening  when  the  gods  were  taken  in  procession  through 
the  temple  and  around  it.  The  image  of  Shiva  and  of  his  wife 
Parvati  were  dressed  and  adorned  with  golden  plates  and  a 
great  display  of  jewels,  and  each  was  placed  on  the  back  of  a 
beautifully  carved  horse  —  carved  in  wood  with  great  artistic 
skill  and  covered  over  with  gold  leaf.  At  a  given  signal  each  of 
these  was  raised  on  the  backs  of  forty  or  fifty  porters,  and  first 
made  to  dance  and  then  carried  forward  amid  the  shouts  of  the 
people  and  the  sound  of  pipes,  drums,  cymbals,  and  conches. 
Reinforcements  now  were  added.  Two  elephants,  richly  ca- 
parisoned, led  the  procession,  which  started  through  the  ave- 
nues and  under  the  great  gopurams  of  the  temple.  After  the 
elephants  came  six  men  carrying  umbrellas  and  dancing  wildly, 
then  Shiva's  eldest  son,  the  elephant-headed  Ganesh,  carried 
in  his  car,  and  Shiva's  second  son  Subrahmanya  in  his.  In  the 
center  of  the  procession,  following  his  two  sons,  came  the  Great 
God  himself,  on  his  prancing  golden  steed,  with  much  music, 
followed  by  his  wife,  and  she  in  turn  followed  by  her  servant- 
god  (for  the  chief  gods  have  servants  divine  as  well  as  human) . 
The  rear  of  the  procession  was  brought  up  by  a  dozen  Brahmin 
priests  walking  side  by  side  and  hand  in  hand,  chanting  the 
Vedas.  "There  they  go,"  said  an  old  Hindu  to  me;  "  there  they 
go,  chanting  the  Vedas;  and  not  one  of  them  understands  a 
word  of  what  he  is  saying!"  There  was  no  light,  of  course,  ex- 
cept the  lurid  gleam  of  torches  and  the  twinkling  of  the  little 
lamps  on  the  many  towering  portals  through  which  the  gods 
and  their  worshipers  passed  —  a  thousand  on  each  gate.  So 
the  procession  swept  out  through  the  great  gopuram  into  the 
city  and  made  a  circuit  around  the  outer  walls  of  the  whole 
temple  with  much  enthusiasm,  noise,  and  yellow  light. 

But  great  temples  like  that  at  Madura  are  hardly  so  typical 
of  Hinduism  as  small  ones,  where  one  or  two  individuals  at  a 

23 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

time  go  and  do  their  daily  puja.  At  the  roadside  shrine  one 
sees  the  religion  of  the  people  better  than  in  the  pomp  of  the 
great  processions.  In  fact  not  even  a  temple  is  needed  for  the 
public  worship  of  the  gods.  Under  many  a  pipal  tree  one  finds 
collections  of  ancient  stone  lingams  or  images,  —  the  red  Hanu- 
man  or  the  pot-bellied  Ganesh  with  his  trunk;  and  around  these 
the  beliefs  and  superstitions  of  the  common  people  center  quite 
as  much  as  about  the  more  elaborate  images  in  the  great 
temples.  The  trees  themselves,  moreover,  are  sacred  and  so 
are  many  plants;  and  one  will  often  see  a  Brahmin  brandishing 
a  lamp  before  some  pitiful  little  sprig  of  a  tree,  or  an  old  woman 
reverently  laying  a  few  grains  of  rice  at  its  foot,  or  burning  a 
wick  before  it,  with  very  evident  and  sincere  belief  in  the  efificacy 
of  her  actions  to  accomplish  some  desired  end.  Thus  the  super- 
stitious Hindu  "worships"  not  only  the  great  gods  but  an  im- 
mense army  of  spirits,  including  his  own  ancestors ;  and  he  also 
"worships  "  such  things  as  the  cow  and  even  his  own  tools.  But 
care  must  be  taken  in  interpreting  this  word  "worship."  We  use 
it  only  to  indicate  man's  attitude  toward  God.  To  understand 
the  Indian  phenomenon  which  is  denoted  by  the  word  as  used 
by  most  writers  on  India,  it  is  necessary  to  give  it  quite  a  new 
meaning.  Worship  here  should  be  understood  to  mean  either  a 
conventional  act  which  it  is  good  to  perform  because  sanc- 
tioned by  custom,  or  a  request  from  one  finite  being  to  another, 
some  degree  of  awe  being  involved  in  the  fact  that  the  being  to 
whom  the  request  is  made  remains  forever  behind  the  scenes. 
It  does  not,  however,  necessarily  involve  any  moral  reverence, 
or  any  recognition  of  greatly  superior  power.  It  is  more  like 
a  business  proposition  than  like  Christian  worship.  Our  state 
of  mind,  if  we  should  ask  Carnegie  for  a  library,  is  probably  not 
far  different  from  that  of  the  native  when  he  worships  a  tree 
spirit.  In  like  manner  he  worships  the  King-Emperor  and  the 
Viceroy,  and  he  will  worship  you  and  me  if  he  needs  baksheesh. 
The  elaborate  "Salaam  Sahib!  Salaam  Sahib!"  of  the  coolie  or 
beggar  to  the  man  with  the  big  topee  is  a  kind  of  puja.  It  is  in 
some  such  sense  as  this  that  we  must  understand  the  Indian's 
"worship"  of  the  cow  and  the  various  spirits  of  the  air. 

But  we  must  not  judge  all  Hindu  worship  by  scenes  like 
these.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  our  eyes  are  blinded  by  our  own 
24 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

traditions  and  our  own  symbols  to  the  best  things  in  the  Hindu 
temples  as  seen  by  Hindu  eyes.  Says  Farquhar:  "Hinduism 
has  proved  itself  a  most  powerful  system  both  in  organizing  the 
people  and  in  stimulating  them  religiously;  and  no  part  of  the 
religion  has  been  more  living  and  effective  than  the  worship 
of  the  temple.  .  .  .  The  temple  is  a  constant  joy  to  each  Hindu 
because  he  can  go  and  actually  look  on  the  face  of  the  god 
whom  he  loves,  express  his  affection  by  giving  him  a  gift  of 
food,  pour  into  his  ear  all  his  sorrows  and  all  his  desires,  hear  the 
god's  reply,  and  go  home  fortified  against  evil  spirits  and  ill- 
luck  through  eating  a  portion  of  the  food  that  has  been  offered 
to  the  divinity.  The  hhakti  [personal  religious  devotion]  of  the 
Hindu,  whether  villager  or  saintly  poet,  is  usually  a  passionate 
devotion  to  a  single  idol.  He  dances  with  rapture  or  falls  in  a 
swoon  from  sudden  emotion  when  he  sees  the  glory  of  the 
divine  eyes."  ^ 

And  if  we  would  gain  any  glimmer  of  comprehension  of  the 
inner  meaning  of  the  temple  worship,  we  must  turn  our  gaze 
away  from  the  images  of  the  gods  and  the  external  side  of  the 
performance,  and  fasten  it  instead  upon  the  faces  of  the  wor- 
shipers. For  though  the  human  face  also  is  a  symbol,  it  is  a 
symbol  which  we  all  can  understand.  Much  of  Hindu  temple 
worship  is  degraded,  but  there  are  elements  in  it  which,  though 
incomprehensible  to  us,  somehow  have  their  value.  Come  to 
the  bathing-ghats  at  Benares  and  watch  the  lines  of  people 
streaming  up  into  the  temples  of  Mahadev  that  crown  their 
summit.  It  is  a  serious  throng  this,  though  one  finds  smiles  as 
well  as  sadness  there.  A  few  young  men  there  are  in  it,  but 
most  of  the  men  are  of  middle  age  or  old.  And  the  greater  part 
of  the  procession  —  as  of  most  religious  processions  of  the 
twentieth  century  —  is  made  up  of  women.  Some  bring  with 
them  bright  hopes  and  happy  faces,  but  most  of  them  have  lit- 
tle left  in  this  world  but  religion,  they  being  widows —  widows 
young  and  old,  with  heads  eternally  shaven,  trudging  one  after 
another  up  the  steps  to  the  temple  of  Mahadev.  The  gong  and 
drum  inside  the  temple  are  calling  the  worshipers  with  ever- 
increasing  din,  and  the  women  and  men  pause  at  the  doorway 
and  bow,  or  touch  the  panel  or  the  floor  with  their  hands  and 
1  Op.  cit.,  p.  327. 
25 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

rub  these  on  their  foreheads,  and  then  go  in  —  where  you  and  I 
are  not  allowed  to  go ;  for  happily  the  shrine  is  sacred  and  these 
have  privileges  in  it  which  are  very  precious  and  which  you  and 
I  may  not  share.  Each  worshiper  carries  a  brass  jar  or  bowl 
filled  with  Ganges  water,  and,  wrapped  up  somewhere  in  her 
loose-flowing  garments,  a  few  grains  of  rice  and  the  petals  of 
flowers  —  mostly  marigolds  or  roses.  Some  of  these  are  laid 
reverently  before  the  images  of  the  lesser  gods  whose  shrines  line 
the  walls  of  the  temple,  and  then  with  pious  feet  our  worshiper 
advances  to  the  stone  lingam  of  Shiva  who  is  Mahadev,  the 
Great  God.  On  this  she  pours  the  Ganges  water  which  she  has 
brought,  and  here  deposits  her  poor  gift  of  flowers  or  food,  and 
then  stands  for  some  time  in  silent  prayer  —  silent  except  for 
the  whispered  word,  now  and  then,  "Mahadev!  Mahadev!" 
Her  prayer  finished,  she  joins  the  human  stream  going  out- 
ward from  the  temple ;  and  if  one  may  trust  the  expression  on 
her  face,  she  is  taking  with  her  something  that  she  did  not  bring. 
She  has  found  something  in  that  shrine,  something  like  com- 
fort or  hope,  or  at  least  a  sense  of  duty  done  and  God  pleased. 
In  some  sense  or  other  she  has  met  God  in  the  Hindu  temple. 
But  it  is  in  the  home  even  more  than  in  the  temple  that  the 
pious  Hindu  expects  to  meet  God.  In  every  Hindu  house  be- 
fore the  advent  of  Western  influeiTte  there  was  —  and  in  all  the 
more  conservative  houses  there  is  still  —  a  temple  room,  pro- 
vided with  a  few  pictures  of  favorite  deities  and  a  number  of 
stone,  clay,  or  brass  images.  Shiva's  lingam  ^  is  almost  invari- 

^  There  are  three  kinds  of  lingams  commonly  used  in  worship:  (i)  those 
made  of  earth  or  clay  for  temporary  use  and  destroyed  after  puja  (it  should 
be  thrown  into  the  Ganges  if  possible);  (2)  carved  stone  or  clay  or  metal 
lingams  which  may  be  bought  in  the  bazaar;  (3)  small  rounded  stones  or 
large  pebbles  of  the  general  shape  of  a  lingam  and  obtained  from  the  Ner- 
budda  River.  Worshipers  of  Vishnu  frequently  keep  in  their  homes  a  kind 
of  fossilized  shell  or  large  pebble  covered  with  many  odd  markings  and  holes 
(an  ammonite  or  nautilus)  known  as  salagrama  stones,  and  found  in  the 
streams  of  Nepal.  They  are  peculiarly  sacred  to  Vishnu,  and  are  sometimes 
bathed,  dried  with  a  cloth,  ornamented  with  flowers,  set  upon  a  throne,  and 
worshiped.  Images  of  the  various  gods  —  usually  of  brass  —  may  be  bought 
in  the  bazaar  in  any  city.  In  addition  to  images,  some  Hindus,  especially 
worshipers  of  shakti,  make  use  of  yantras  or  mystic  diagrams  in  their  wor- 
ship. Both  images  and  yantras  must  first  be  magnetized,  so  to  speak,  with 
the  divine  presence  by  means  of  the  recitation  of  mantras,  before  the  god 
comes  to  dwell  in  them  for  purposes  of  worship. 

26 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

ably  one  of  these  —  usually  of  stone  and  from  six  inches  to  a 
foot  high  —  while  Vishnu,  Ganesh,  and  Hanuman  are  also 
likely  to  be  represented.  If  the  family  can  afford  it,  it  employs 
a  Brahmin  priest  to  look  out  for  the  religious  interests  of  the 
family  and  take  charge  of  the  domestic  shrine.^  The  priest 
does  daily  puja  and  before  each  meal  rings  a  bell  in  the  shrine, 
whereupon  the  lady  of  the  house  presents  part  of  the  food  to  the 
god.  This  in  fact  she  does  always,  whether  the  family  has  a 
priest  or  not.  All  the  members  of  the  family  also  come  into  the 
shrine  before  each  meal  and  do  puja.  This  custom  of  sharing 
each  meal  with  the  god,  who  must  be  served  before  any  one  else, 
together  with  the  united  family  worship  in  recognition  of  the 
divine  care,  is  of  course  "primitive,"  but  is  not  lacking  in 
certain  rather  pleasing  aspects.  It  is  in  some  respects  similar  to 
our  custom  of  "asking  the  blessing"  before  meals.  But  both 
customs  are  too  "primitive"  for  these  times,  and  they  are 
both  fast  disappearing,  especially  among  the  "more  in- 
telligent." 

I  do  not  wish  to  idealize  the  Hindu  domestic  shrine,  how- 
ever. The  worship  which  one  finds  there,  though  sincere  so  far 
as  it  goes,  is  often  very  ignorant.  I  had  a  talk  with  a  Hindu 
merchant  in  Ceylon,  who,  though  far  from  his  native  land  (he 
and  his  partner  had  come  ffom  Karachi),  had  brought  with 
him  into  the  Buddhist  island  tw'O  of  his  old  gods  and  a  few  of 
his  religious  books.  He  told  me  that  he  and  his  partner  never 
went  to  the  Hindu  temple,  but  that  they  had  a  little  temple  of 
their  own  in  the  back  of  their  shop,  where  they  did  puja  regu- 
larly morning  and  night,  and  he  very  kindly  took  me  to  see  it. 
It  was  a  closet,  small  and  dark,  its  walls  lined  with  the  usual 
pictures  from  Hindu  mythology,  such  as  you  see  in  almost 
every  Hindu  shop  or  booth  in  India.  It  was  provided  with 
two  shelves,  on  one  of  which  were  a  few  books,  while  on  the 
other  were  standing  two  images,  which  he  showed  me  with 
some  pride  and  a  little  reverence.  One  was  unmistakably 
Ganesh  —  as  in  fact  he  said.   The  other  I  did  not  recognize, 

'■  Cf.  the  custom  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  family  to  employ  a  Levite  to 
attend  to  its  domestic  worship.  The  reader  will  remember  the  story  of 
Micah  who  had  "an  house  of  gods"  (i.e.,  of  domestic  images)  and  who  se- 
cured the  services  of  a  young  Levite  who  was  seeking  his  fortunes  in  that 
land.  See  Judges,  xvii  and  xviii. 

27 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  he  said  he  did  not  know  who  it  was,  but  he  worshiped  it 
twice  a  day  just  the  same.  He  said  his  partner  knew  who  it  was; 
and  since  this  knowledge  belonged  to  the  firm  it  evidently 
satisfied  him.  He  did  not  himself  know  anything  about  the  god 
except  that  it  had  to  be  worshiped  twice  a  day  and  this  he  did 
conscientiously.  He  said  that  he  prayed  to  these  two  gods  for 
whatever  he  wanted,  in  prayers  of  his  own  making:  and  when 
I  asked  him  if  his  prayers  were  answered  and  if  the  gods  gave 
him  what  he  petitioned  for,  he  said,  "Of  course!" 

This  man  always  spoke  of  the  images  as  "gods."  I  asked  if 
he  meant  that  they  really  were  gods,  or  merely  representations 
of  the  gods.  He  answered  that  the  images  were  the  gods  them- 
selves. On  being  questioned  further,  he  said  there  was  only 
one  god  Ganesh,  but  many  images  of  him:  yet  insisted  that 
this  image  was  the  god  Ganesh.  This  complete  cloudiness  of 
thought  represents,  I  believe,  the  attitude  of  a  large  proportion 
of  the  uneducated  Hindus  on  the  question  of  idols  and  their 
nature,  though  certainly  not  all  express  their  real  position  so 
frankly.  The  nature  of  Indian  idolatry  is  a  very  difficult 
question.  Excellent  evidence  can  be  brought  forward  to  prove 
that  the  Hindus  regard  their  idols  as  images  only  —  as  merely 
suggestions  or  symbols  of  the  divine;  while  evidence  equally 
good  shows  that  the  Hindus  idenf!fy  the  images  with  the  gods 
themselves.  The  truth  is,  of  course,  that  not  only  is  each  of 
these  views  held  by  different  members  of  the  community,  ac- 
cording to  their  stage  of  enlightenment,  but  that  probably  the 
majority  of  the  Hindus  hold  both  views  at  once  —  as  did  my 
friend  in  Ceylon.  It  is  only  in  logic  that  contradictory  op- 
posites  are  incompatible;  in  the  human  mind  they  often  keep 
house  together  very  comfortably. 

Most  Hindus  whom  you  question  as  to  the  nature  of  their 
idols  will  tell  you  that  these  are  not  to  be  identified  with  their 
gods,  but  are  merely  likenesses  or  perhaps  nothing  but  "sug- 
gestions" of  the  divine,  which  they  find  to  be  a  help  in  the 
concentration  of  their  minds  in  worship.  The  Shiva  worshiper 
already  referred  to,  who  showed  me  about  the  temple  in  Delhi, 
said  to  me,  "The  image  is  not  Shiva.  Shiva  is  in  heaven. 
But  I  want  to  worship  Shiva,  so  I  make  a  picture  or  image  as 
like  Him  in  appearance  as  I  can,  and  then  I  pray  to  Shiva  in 
28 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

front  of  it  because  it  helps  me  to  pray."  And  according  to 
Howells,  "the  ordinary  villager  all  over  India"  will  respond  to 
the  missionary's  protest  against  idolatry'  in  words  like  these :  — 
"Yes,  sir,  we  agree  with  all  you  say  as  to  the  spiritual  character 
of  God.  With  you  we  believe  God  to  be  Spirit,  and  with  you  we 
say  that  He  must  be  worshiped  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  But  is 
not  God  omnipresent?  Is  not  the  Eternal  Spirit  everywhere, 
filling  all  space?  Are  not  all  earth  and  sky  and  heaven  full  of 
his  glory?  Then,  if  God  be  everywhere,  as  all  admit,  is  He  not 
in  tree  and  flower  and  rock  and  sky  and  cloud?  And  so,  when 
we  fall  down  before  the  idols  of  wood  and  stone,  do  not  think 
that  we  worship  the  mere  wood  and  stone;  we  rather  worship 
the  One  Supreme  God,  who  by  virtue  of  His  omnipresence  is  in 
the  tree  and  in  the  rock  and  pervades  all  space."  ^ 

Though  presentations  of  the  matter  in  this  light  are  common 
and  decidedly  beautiful,  they  are  not  exact.  For  the  image  of 
the  cult  unquestionably  has  a  sacredness  in  the  eyes  of  the  de- 
vout Hindu  which  is  lacking  not  only  in  ordinary  "wood  and 
stone,"  but  lacking  also  in  other  images  of  exactly  the  same  ap- 
pearance which  have  not  been  duly  consecrated.  In  every 
great  Hindu  temple  you  will  find  a  large  number  of  images  of 
the  god  to  whom  the  temple  is  sacred,  sculptured  in  the  cor- 
ridors or  on  the  towers  or  standing  in  the  courts.  But  no  one 
worships  these.  It  is  only  the  image  in  the  central  shrine  to 
which  one  does  puja.  There  is  a  regular  and  elaborate  process 
which  must  be  gone  through  by  a  duly  qualified  Brahmin  priest 
—  the  recitation  of  many  mantras,  sprinkling  of  holy  water, 
etc.  —  before  the  idol  is  recognized  not  as  an  ordinary  image, 
but  as  a  "cult-image."  Rather  significantly  this  ceremony  is 
technically  known  as  the  "bringing-in"  (of  the  deity),  or  as  the 
"establishment  of  life"  (in  the  image) .^  The  whole  process  of 
puja,  moreover,  the  bathing  and  dressing  of  the  idol,  the  presen- 
tation of  food,  water,  and  sweets  to  it,  the  sending  it  into  the 
country  for  an  airing,  and  the  final  putting  it  to  sleep  at  night, 
show  plainly  that  there  is  something  more  here  than  an  attempt 
to  concentrate  one's  thoughts  on  God,  and  that  the  cult-image 
is  conceived  of  as  being  in  some  sense  or  other  a  genuine  and 

^  Howells,  The  Sotd  of  India  (London,  James  Clarke,  1913),  p.  417. 
*  Farquhar,  op.  cit.,  p.  322. 

29 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

peculiar  embodiment  of  the  Divine.^  An  Indian  philosopher 
of  my  acquaintance  said  to  me:  "Ask  any  one  of  the  lower 
classes  as  to  his  view  of  idols,  and  he  will  assure  you  that  the 
image  before  which  he  prays  is  not  God  but  only  a  symbol. 
This  he  will  say;  but  it  is  a  question  whether  he  really  feels  it. 
It  seems  more  probable  that  this  is  a  kind  of  phrase  which 
all  Hindus  have  learned,  but  that  in  their  hearts  many  of  the 
lower  classes  practically  identify  the  stone  image  with  the 
god." 

And  not  only  is  the  god  present  in  the  cult-image  for  pur- 
poses of  worship  in  a  peculiar  way;  different  cult-images  of  the 
same  god  often  acquire  in  the  course  of  years  a  distinction  of 
their  own  which  almost  makes  them  into  separate  personalities. 
Farquhar  has  illustrated,  out  of  the  life  of  Ramanuja,  the  way 
in  which  the  Vishnu  of  Conjeeveram  and  the  Vishnu  of  Trichin- 
opoly  were  already  in  the  time  of  the  philosopher  regarded  as 
being  sufiQciently  separate  personalities  to  allow  of  their  con- 
tending with  each  other  for  the  possession  of  a  favorite  disciple ;  ^ 
and  the  god  of  many  a  lesser  shrine  has  attained  to  an  inde- 
pendent personality  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  two  Vishnu 
idols  cited.^ 

Of  course  educated  Hindus  of  to-day  do  not  identify  the 
image  with  God ;  but  some  of  them  believe  that  God  does  man- 
ifest himself  in  some  peculiar  sense  in  the  image  for  the  benefit 
of  the  worshiper,^  and  many  testify  that  they  find  the  presence 
of  an  image  a  real  help  in  bringing  about  the  religious  attitude 
of  mind  and  insist  that  for  the  uneducated  it  is  almost  a  neces- 
sity.   A  cultured  Bengalee  Brahmin  said  to  me:  "The  idol  is 

^  For  a  thorough  and  persuasive  discussion  of  this  subject  see  Farquhar, 
op.  cit.,  chap.  VIII. 

*  Op.  cit.,  pp.  325-26. 

^  Something  like  this  almost  inevitably  follows  whenever  and  wherever 
worship  at  special  shrines  is  regarded  as  having  special  virtue.  It  is  to  be 
found  in  most  polytheistic  religions  where  pilgrimages  are  encouraged;  and 
to  some  extent  in  Catholic  Christianity  as  well.  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  occu- 
pies a  very  different  position  from  that  of  Our  Lady  of  Paris. 

*  Farquhar  quotes  a  modern  Vaishnavite  as  follows:  "The  manifestation 
is  that  form  of  the  Lord  in  which  the  Lord  is  pleased,  without  any  kind  of 
limitation  as  to  time,  places,  or  persons,  to  be  present  and  manifest  Himself 
to  all,  in  temples  and  homes,  to  wink  at  faults,  and  to  be,  for  every  move- 
ment or  business,  dependent  on  the  worshiper"  (p.  320).  But  there  have 
always  been  protests  from  spiritual  Hindus  against  every  sort  of  idolatry. 

30 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

useful  in  aiding  visualization  and  concentration.  It  is  a  sensu- 
ous symbol,  just  as  the  word  G-O-D  is.  Both  are  symbols,  one 
tangible  and  visible,  the  other  audible;  and  both  are  helpful  to 
our  finite  minds  in  standing  for  the  Infinite.  The  man  who 
worships  before  an  idol  in  effect  prays:  *0  God,  come  and  dwell 
in  this  image  before  me  for  the  moment  that  I  may  worship  thee 
here  concretely!'" 

The  truth  is,  a  good  deal  more  can  be  said  in  defense  of  an  in- 
telligent use  of  "idols"  than  one  who  has  never  seriously  con- 
sidered the  matter  is  likely  to  conceive.  And  thoughtful  mis- 
sionaries like  Howells  and  Farquhar  are  quite  ready  to  admit 
this  fact.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that  criticism  such  as  is  made  by 
the  former  of  these  gentlemen  (and  in  part  concurred  in  by  the 
latter)  is  altogether  satisfactory.  He  gives  a  typical  argument 
between  an  intelligent  "idolater"  and  a  missionary,  in  which 
he  is  quite  just  to  the  former  except  in  cutting  the  discussion 
short  and  giving  the  missionary  the  last  word.  The  mission- 
ary's last  word  —  which  the  author  evidently  regards  as  de- 
cisive —  amounts  to  this:  that  Hindu  idols  are  ugly  and  quite 
unworthy  representations  of  the  Divine;  and  the  natural  de- 
sire to  represent  God  concretely  is  fully  satisfied  in  God's  in- 
carnation, Jesus  Christ.^  It  seems  plain  enough  that  if  the 
"idolater"  were  permitted  a  final  reply,  it  would  be  something 
like  this:  "When  you  speak  of  Christ  as  the  concrete  represen- 
tation of  God,  you  miss  the  point  of  my  argument  altogether. 
For  what  I  feel  the  need  of  is  something  that  can  appeal  directly 
to  my  senses.  Were  Christ  here  visibly  and  tangibly,  then  in- 
deed your  argument  would  hold.  But  he  is  gone  these  nine- 
teen hundred  years.  And  as  to  my  ugly  images  —  de  gustibus 

Thus  a  Shaivite  poet  who  lived  a  thousand  years  ago  (one  Pattanattu  Pillai 
—  may  his  name  not  be  lost!)  could  write  as  follows:  — 

"  My  God  Is  not  a  chiseled  stone 
Or  lime-block  dear  and  bright, 
No  bronzen  image  He,  forsooth. 

That's  cleansed  for  mortal's  sight. 

"I  cannot  worship  such  as  these. 
But  make  my  lofty  boasts 
That  in  my  heart  I  set  the  feet 
Of  the  great  God  of  Hosts." 

For  more  of  the  same  tenor  see  Barnett's  The  Heart  of  India  (London, 
Murray,  1908),  pp.  88-92. 
1  Howells,  op.  cit.,  pp.  418-19. 

31 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

non  disputandum.  I  do  not  take  them  to  be  likenesses  of  God, 
but  only  symbolical  representations  of  certain  divine  attributes. 
And  you,  not  being  a  Hindu,  of  course  should  not  expect  to 
understand  the  powerful  emotional  appeal  they  have  for  me." 

There  can  be  no  question  of  the  contribution  which  the  senses 
make  in  bringing  about  the  religious  state  of  mind.  Christian- 
ity, both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  has  recognized  this  fact  in 
the  arrangement  of  its  churches  and  its  services.  Our  thought 
and  still  more  our  feeling  has  need  of  concrete  sensuous  sup- 
ports. It  is  to  this  fundamental  need  of  the  human  mind  that 
the  use  of  images  has  appealed  since  first  the  Divine  retreated 
behind  the  visible  and  took  up  its  abode  in  the  Unseen.  The 
history  of  religion  in  all  parts  of  the  world  is  ample  evidence  of 
this  psychological  fact.  Even  the  Buddhists  and  Jainas  have 
been  forced  to  adopt  the  use  of  images,  and  the  Catholic  Church 
in  its  prayers  to  the  saints,  and  still  more  in  its  central  doctrine 
of  the  Real  Presence,  has  recognized  and  utilized  this  deep-lying 
need.  There  is,  therefore,  considerable  justification  for  the 
defender  of  images  when  he  maintains  that  most  men,  and 
particularly  those  on  a  low  stage  of  intellectual  development, 
may  find  a  great  deal  of  help  in  the  presence  of  an  "idol."  The 
widows,  for  instance,  whom  I  described  some  pages  back  com- 
ing out  of  the  temple  of  Mahadev  and  taking  home  with  them 
genuine  comfort  —  would  they  have  found  that  comfort  if  the 
temple  had  had  no  image  or  symbol  of  the  Great  God?  It 
seems  extremely  doubtful.  The  faith  of  these  faithful  souls 
finds  reinforcement  in  the  sensuous  presence  of  a  physical 
object  which  is  very  real.  The  Great  God  doubtless  is  present 
everyw^here;  but  what  is  that  abstract  doctrine  compared  with 
the  sense  of  proximity  to  the  Deity  and  the  realization  of  His 
presence  which  comes  to  the  poor  soul  when  she  sees  this  sym- 
bol of  the  mystery  of  life  directly  before  her,  and  pours  her 
offering  of  sacred  water  directly  upon  this  concrete  object  in 
which  the  Great  God  has  consented  to  take  up  (for  her  sake) 
His  miraculous  abode? 

The  danger  in  the  use  of  images  is  the  ease  of  their  misuse. 

And  in  India  the  great  majority  of  those  who  use  them  misuse 

them.    By  this  I  mean  that  they  identify  the  object  with  the 

Divine  in  some  magical  sense,  and  hence  the  door  is  open  to  all 

32 


HINDU   WORSHIP 

sorts  of  degrading  superstitions.  And  while  the  use  of  images 
makes  it  easier  for  the  mind  to  realize  the  presence  of  the  Di- 
vine, it  is  questionable  whether  the  Divine  does  not  lose  more 
of  excellence  in  the  process  than  it  gains  in  power.  The  Divine 
is  dwarfed  in  order  to  be  made  assimilable  to  the  human  mind 
without  stretching  the  latter;  —  as  if  the  stretching  of  the 
mind  were  not  one  of  the  chief  services  which  religion  does  for 
man.  And  if  God  is  really  to  be  pleased  by  the  presentation  of 
flowers  and  rice  to  his  image,  then  religion  degenerates  into  a 
very  external  matter  —  which  is  hardly  to  be  recommended 
because  it  is  "easy."  No,  undeniable  as  is  the  psychological 
aid  to  be  derived  from  the  use  of  images,  idolatry  as  actually 
practiced  in  India  results  in  evils  considerably  greater  than  all 
the  benefits  ascribed  to  it  by  its  defenders. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  use  of  idols  and  for  the  puja  of  the 
temple  and  the  home.  But  public  and  domestic  ceremonies 
of  the  kind  described  in  this  chapter  are  not  the  only  ways 
in  which  one  acquires  merit  with  the  gods.  One  of  the  most 
important  forms  of  the  Hindu  cult,  and  one  of  the  distinguish- 
ing features  of  religion  in  India,  is  to  be  found  in  religious 
pilgrimages  to  sacred  places  —  a  subject  that  will  occupy  our 
attention  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  HINDU   PILGRIM 

INDIA  is  as  thickly  strewn  with  sacred  spots  as  Europe  and 
America  with  power  factories.  Most  of  these  holy  places 
are  thronged  at  certain  periods  of  the  year  —  and  some  of  them 
every  day  of  the  year  —  with  crowds  of  pilgrims  who  have  come 
from  near-by  towns,  or  even  from  distant  parts  of  India,  to 
worship  at  the  shrine,  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the  sacred  river  or 
tank  or  sea  which  is  almost  invariably  to  be  found  near  the 
temple,  and  incidentally  to  have  a  pleasant  social  time  and 
meet  All-the-world  and  his  wife,  who  are  sure  to  be  there.  An 
Indian  pilgrimage  suggests  a  French  pardon  in  its  mixture  of 
piety,  earnestness,  and  restrained  joyousness.  One  cannot  call 
it  gay,  and  there  can  be  no  question  of  the  solemnity  which  the 
pilgrims  feel  in  performing  the  various  rites;  and  yet  it  is  very 
evident  that  every  one  is  happy;  and  if,  on  the  one  hand,  there 
is  never  a  sign  of  indecorum,  there  is,  on  the  other,  nothing  to 
suggest  the  Puritan  Sabbath,  Perhaps  the  most  striking  thing 
in  these  pilgrimages  is  to  be  found  in  the  tremendous  numbers 
that  attend  them  and  the  way  they  continue  with  no  ebb  of 
the  tide  throughout  the  year.  The  tourist  in  India  is  constantly 
surprised  at  the  numbers  of  the  natives  in  the  trains.  They  are 
packed  away  in  the  fourth-class  compartments  like  cattle  from 
Chicago  to  New  York  —  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  happy 
Hindus,  dressed  in  all  varieties  of  colored  rags,  with  some  get- 
ting out  and  more  getting  in  at  every  station.  Where  are  all 
these  men  and  women  going?  The  answer  is  that  most  of  them 
are  on  a  pilgrimage.  They  have  saved  up  their  annas  and  their 
pice  for  months  and  now  they  are  off  for  a  religious  holiday. 
Or  perhaps  they  are  returning  home  from  one.  In  either  case 
they  are  a  happy  lot :  those  starting  out  are  happy  in  anticipa- 
tion, those  returning  are  filled  with  the  sense  of  duty  done  and 
merit  acquired.  They  are  that  much  farther  along  on  their 
great  journey  through  the  universe  and  through  the  ages,  from 

34 


THE   HINDU    PILGRIM 

the  lowest  forms  of  life  up  to  the  highest  heaven,  a  journey  of 
which  the  Hindu  seems  ever  conscious  and  on  which  he  ever 
regards  himself  as  an  unresting  pilgrim. 

Of  the  hundreds  of  holy  places  in  India  there  are  a  few  which 
stand  out  as  peculiarly  holy,  and  of  these  the  six  following  are 
perhaps  the  most  sacred:  Hard  war,  Allahabad,  and  Benares, 
all  on  the  Ganges:  Brindaban,  on  the  Jumna;  Puri,  near  the 
eastern  coast  and  about  three  hundred  miles  south  of  Calcutta; 
and  Rameswaram,  on  the  island  of  that  name  —  one  of  the 
chain  of  islands  known  as  "Adam's  Bridge"  lying  between 
South  India  and  Ceylon.  Of  these  six  holy  places  it  was  my 
good  fortune  to  visit  four,  and  I  can  probably  give  the  reader  a 
better  idea  of  India's  pilgrims  by  describing  what  I  saw  myself 
than  by  giving  a  more  general  description  of  the  Indian  pil- 
grimage as  such. 

The  holy  places  I  visited  were  Hardwar,  Allahabad,  Benares, 
and  Rameswaram,  as  well  as  Mahaban  (a  few  miles  from  Brin- 
daban) of  which  I  shall  have  something  to  say  in  our  next 
chapter.  Of  Rameswaram  I  shall  say  but  little.  There  were 
but  few  pilgrims  visiting  it  the  day  of  our  pilgrimage,  and  I 
took  away  much  more  vivid  impressions  from  the  architecture 
of  the  temple  with  its  magnificent  corridors  a  thousand  feet 
long  than  from  the  religious  bearing  of  the  pilgrims.  Pilgrims 
there  were,  of  course,  bathing  in  the  near-by  lake,  and  then 
passing,  in  their  wet  garments,  through  the  long  corridors  into 
the  central  shrine,  sacred  to  Shiva.  In  this  shrine  is  a  famous 
Hngam  said  to  have  been  placed  here  by  Rama,  and  said  also  to 
move  when  cooled  (as  it  is  every  day)  by  Ganges  water,  which 
is  brought  nearly  fifteen  hundred  miles  for  this  purpose  and  is 
afterwards  sold  to  the  pilgrims.  But  I  shall  not  detain  the 
reader  longer  in  this  wonderful  inner  shrine;  especially  as 
neither  he  nor  I  is  allowed  to  enter  it  or  even  to  peek  at  its 
remarkable  lingam  from  a  distance.  The  non-Hindu  may  watch 
the  dripping  pilgrims  disappear  through  a  great  and  mysteri- 
ous doorway,  and  that  is  all. 

The  sacred  spots  along  the  great  rivers  of  India  are  much 
better  points  of  pilgrimage  for  the  non-Hindu  than  is  Rames- 
waram; for  in  these  places  nearly  everything  of  importance  is 
open  to  his  observation  —  which  is  in  fact  almost  inevitable, 
35 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

since  the  chief  ceremony  is  the  ritualistic  bath  in  the  sacred 
stream  itself.  For  many  of  the  great  rivers  of  India,  such  as  the 
Indus,  the  Jumna,  and  the  Nerbudda,  possess  the  supernatural 
power  of  washing  away  sin  if  bathed  in  at  the  proper  time  and 
in  the  proper  way;  and  some  of  them  can  even  assure  a  safe 
passage  to  the  next  world  to  him  whose  ashes  are  duly  com- 
mitted to  their  sacred  waves.  But  while  the  three  rivers  named 
above,  and  several  others  which  might  be  added  to  the  list, 
possess  great  power  and  sanctity,  all  of  them  together  cannot 
be  compared  in  value  to  "Mother  Ganga."  "By  bathing  in 
other  rivers,"  says  the  Garuda  Purana,  "men  are  purified,  but 
so  also  by  merely  touching,  drinking,  or  calling  upon  the 
Ganges.  It  sanctifies  meritless  men  by  hundreds  and  thousands. 
He  who  calls,  O  Ganga!  Ganga!  while  life  is  flickering  in  the 
throat,  goes  when  dead  to  the  City  of  Vishnu  and  is  not  born 
again  on  earth."  "He  whose  bones  sink  in  the  water  of  the 
Ganges  never  returns  from  the  world  of  Brahma."  ^ 

Although  along  its  entire  length  the  Ganges  is  thus  sacred 
and  miraculously  beneficent,  there  are  certain  spots  upon  it  in 
which  its  sanctity  and  its  supernatural  powers  present  them- 
selves to  a  special  and  extreme  degree;  and  the  three  places 
already  referred  to  are  of  course  the  most  sacred  of  these  — 
namely,  Hardwar,  where  the  river  issues  from  the  Himalayas; 
Allahabad,  where  it  is  joined  by  its  sacred  tributary  the  Jumna; 
and  Benares,  the  Holy  City. 

We  were  fortunate,  I  think,  in  visiting  Hardwar  on  one  of  its 
less  popular  days;  for  had  there  been  many  more  pilgrims  than 
we  found,  there  would  hardly  have  been  any  place  for  us.  As 
it  was,  the  ghats  or  broad  flights  of  steps  leading  down  to  the 
water,  were  thronged  for  hours  with  men  and  women  waiting 
their  turn  to  dip,  usually  with  nearly  all  their  clothes  on,  into 
the  ice-cold  water  of  the  strong  young  river.  Here  where  it 
rushes  from  the  gorge  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas  its  waters 
are  as  pure  and  clean  as  those  of  any  mountain  stream,  and 
except  for  its  icy  temperature  a  bath  in  it  would  seem  most  in- 
viting. So  evidently  the  pilgrims  think,  for  there  is  no  mistak- 
ing the  eagerness  —  as  well  as  the  reverence  —  with  which 

1  Garuda  Purana,  x,  30  and  79.  (Translated  by  Wood  and  Subramanyam, 
The  Sacred  Books  of  the  Hindus,  vol.  ix,  Allahabad,  191 1.) 

36 


THE  HINDU   PILGRIM 

they  wash  their  hands,  heads,  and  teeth,  and  then  dip  cere- 
moniously three  times  under  the  waves.  Though  men  and 
women  bathe  side  by  side  there  is  not  the  least  suggestion  of 
immodesty  or  even  of  self-consciousness  in  the  whole  perform- 
ance. Ever\'  one  present  has  come  on  serious  business,  busi- 
ness connected  with  his  eternal  destiny,  and  he  has  no  time  for 
other  considerations.  The  naivete  of  the  ceremony  is  most  ad- 
mirable; for  the  time  being  all  these  men  and  women  have  be- 
come as  little  children.  When  the  bath  is  finished,  they  throw  a 
few  flowers  into  the  water,  or  some  rice  for  the  carp  which  line 
the  bottom  of  the  stream,  and  then  withdraw  to  some  higher 
part  of  the  ghat,  where,  with  wonderful  dexterity  and  equal 
modesty,  they  manage  to  dress  by  putting  on  dry  clothes  un- 
derneath the  wet  ones. 

Suspended  over  the  bathers'  heads  is  a  sign  in  large  letters, 
expressive  of  both  religion  and  political  loyalty:  "Ganga  save 
the  King"  —  a  sentiment  very  representative  of  the  simple 
people  of  India.  At  one  side  of  the  ghats,  close  by  the  bank  of 
the  river,  sits  a  holy  ascetic,  warming  his  hands  over  a  fire  of 
dried  cow  dung,  ready  to  accept  the  homage  of  the  pilgrims, 
but  not  forcing  himself  on  any  of  them.  I  gave  him  a  small 
coin  and  he  returned  the  compliment  by  presenting  me,  as  a 
dainty  to  be  eaten,  with  a  pinch  of  ashes  from  his  cow-dung 
fire.  Farther  downstream  a  man  was  hammering  awa\'  at  the 
lid  of  a  tin  cracker  box.  At  last  he  got  it  open  and  I  found  it 
was  full  of  ashes  and  the  remains  of  human  bones  —  evidently 
all  that  was  left  of  some  near  relative.  He  emptied  it  into  the 
stream,  put  the  lid  back  on  the  box,  and  turned  away  with  it 
under  his  arm.  His  nonchalant  manner  and  his  seeming  in- 
difference toward  the  bones  were  the  most  gruesome  part  of  the 
performance.  They  might  have  been  peanuts. 

Yet  one  must  not  judge  the  Indians  by  the  lack  of  expression 
in  their  faces  at  such  a  time.  For  the  control  of  the  expression 
of  grief  is  cultivated  as  a  virtue.  And  the  general  impression 
which  one  carries  away  from  Hardwar  is  that  of  the  pleasant 
but  earnest  and  quiet  performance  of  a  serious  and  important 
duty. 

To  Allahabad  we  went  more  than  once;  but  our  most  inter- 
esting visit  was  at  the  time  of  the  great  Magh  Mela,  —  a  tradi- 

37 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

tional  pilgrimage,  established  in  ancient  times,  —  which  is  held 
there  every  year  toward  the  middle  of  January  in  celebration  of 
the  turning  backward  of  the  sun  from  the  extreme  southern 
point  of  its  journey.  For  Indian  astronomy,  usually  many  cen- 
turies belated,  is  sometimes  only  three  weeks  behindhand. 
The  mela  is  held  about  two  miles  from  the  city,  at  the  point 
where  the  Ganges  and  Jumna  unite.  The  bed  of  the  Ganges  is 
here  about  a  mile  and  a  half  and  that  of  the  Jumna  about  half  a 
mile  wide  but  at  this  season  of  the  year  the  two  streams  have 
receded  so  as  to  fill  but  a  small  portion  of  their  beds,  leaving  the 
rest  in  the  form  of  two  long  strips  of  plain  extending  toward 
each  other  and  finally  uniting.  Between  them  for  a  mile  or  so 
runs  a  high  bank  or  ridge,  which  serves  as  a  road.  Thus  in  the 
triangular  space  formed  by  the  approximation  and  junction  of 
the  two  rivers  there  is  a  great  deal  of  room,  and  it  is  here  that 
the  Hindus  assemble  preparatory  to  dipping  in  the  waters  of 
the  great  streams  at  the  supremely  sacred  spot  where  they 
unite. 

Perhaps  two  thousand  pilgrims  had  got  off  the  train  in  which 
my  wife  and  I,  together  with  our  friend,  —  the  local  Catholic 
priest,  —  had  come  up  from  Benares,  and  the  railroad  track 
was  lined  with  masses  of  brilliant  color  from  turban  and  sari, 
such  as  the  sober  West  never  dreams  of.  Not  a  carriage  was  to 
be  had,  but  we  managed  to  secure  two  ekkas  and  in  these  we 
sailed  away  through  the  surging  crowd  toward  the  goal  of  our 
pilgrimage  —  though  with  no  great  speed  and  with  less  com- 
fort. An  ekka,  let  me  say  for  those  who  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  East,  is  a  two-wheeled  cart  with  no  seat  —  you  simply 
squat,  native  fashion,  anywhere  on  the  floor  with  the  driver, 
or  on  the  edge  and  let  your  feet  hang  off  over  the  side,  and 
hold  on  for  dear  life :  for  when  the  horse  gallops  the  motion  is 
not  unlike  that  of  a  ship  in  distress.  Perched  grandly  on  our 
ekkas,  then,  we  found  ourselves  a  part  of  a  great  procession, 
moving  over  the  dusty  road,  and  at  every  moment  on  the  point 
of  running  over  some  pious  pilgrim  just  ahead.  As  we  got  far- 
ther out  of  the  city  other  roads  emptied  their  human  currents 
into  ours,  and  when  we  reached  a  point  of  some  elevation  from 
which  we  could  look  out  over  the  country  ahead  we  found  the 
fields  also  filled,  for  miles,  with  marching  columns  and  the  air 
38 


THE   HINDU   PILGRIM 

clouded  with  dust  as  from  the  tramp  of  armies.  As  we  approached 
the  river  beds  the  road  merged  into  a  stretch  of  sand,  where  we 
finally  had  to  alight  and  join  the  pilgrims  on  foot,  as  they 
trudged  along  the  ridge  between  the  two  streams.  The  sides  of 
this  broad  roadway  were  lined  with  booths  where  all  sorts  of 
things  u^ere  on  sale,  from  gods  to  sweetmeats.  Many  temporary 
restaurants  had  been  set  up,  where  every  kind  of  indigestible 
was  to  be  had ;  also  many  half-religious  side-shows,  acclaimed  by 
drum,  conch,  and  cymbal.  All  these  booths  were  built  of  large 
square  bamboo  mats,  that  could  be  put  together  at  a  moment's 
notice  so  as  to  form  houses  of  any  desired  shape.  Over  most  of 
them,  at  the  top  of  long  bamboo  poles,  waved  banners  with 
strange  devices  —  Hindu  gods,  mythical  animals,  Urdoo  in- 
scriptions, or  merely  strips  of  varied  brilliant  colors.  Beggars 
there  were,  of  course,  by  the  hundred  —  blind,  crippled,  lep- 
rous, —  and  holy  men  by  the  score.  Most  of  these  had  little 
camps  of  their  own  —  a  fire  of  dried  cow- dung  in  the  open, 
beside  which  they  sat  on  their  skins  of  various  wild  beasts, 
smoking  their  water-pipes  and  watching  the  passing  crowd  with 
an  expression  of  conscious  superiority  and  disdain.  The  hair  of 
holy  men  is  usually  very  long  —  several  yards  long,  indeed,  for 
they  buy  it  by  the  yard  —  and  it  looks  very  much  like  rope, 
and  not  unnaturally,  for  most  of  it  is.  They  wear  it  in  a  highly 
matted  condition,  and  wind  it  about  the  back  of  their  heads 
somewhat  as  European  women  do.  Their  bodies  and  especially 
their  faces  are  smeared  and  caked  with  clay  and  with  ashes  of 
cow-dung,  and  they  have  very  little  on.  Usually  they  wear 
nothing  but  an  exceedingly  small  loin-cloth,  and  we  saw  one  at 
the  mela  who  had  dispensed  with  even  that.  The  priest  told 
me  that  at  the  mela  of  the  preceding  year  there  was  a  proces- 
sion of  two  hundred  of  these  wonderfully  holy  and  absolutely 
stark  naked  saints.  Of  course,  one  is  supposed  to  contribute  to 
the  support  of  these  good  men,  and  they  regularly  have  a  cloth 
spread  out  in  front  of  them  for  the  reception  of  the  coins  thrown 
them  by  the  passing  crowd.  If  you  contribute,  however,  you 
must  not  expect  them  to  thank  you  —  not  they !  —  the  pleas- 
ure and  profit  are  yours  and  the  favor  all  on  their  side  —  as 
you  can  see  from  the  expression  on  their  faces.  For  have  they 
not  enabled  you  thereby  to  acquire  merit?    And  they  know 

39 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

very  well  that  it  is  far  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  So 
most  of  the  passing  pilgrims  contribute  to  at  least  a  few  of  the 
many  saints  and  go  onward  in  increasing  blessedness. 

Some  of  the  pilgrims  were  themselves  vying  with  the  holy 
men  by  the  mode  of  their  progress.  Far  from  traveling  in  a 
luxurious  ekka,  they  were  not  even  on  foot,  but  were  measuring 
the  distance  by  their  own  length  on  the  ground  —  lying  down 
on  their  bellies,  stretching  their  arms  forward  and  making  a 
mark  in  the  sand,  then  rising  and  lying  down  again  with  their 
toes  in  the  mark  their  hands  had  made,  so  covering  the  dis- 
tance like  a  measuring-worm. 

As  we  approached  the  junction  of  the  rivers  we  came  upon  a 
veritable  city  of  temporary  huts  of  bamboo  mats,  in  which 
thousands  of  the  pilgrims  were  preparing  to  spend  the  night. 
It  would  be  hard  to  compare  the  scene  to  anything  in  America; 
but  if  you  should  put  together  a  county  fair,  a  circus,  a  camp- 
meeting,  and  a  fancy-dress  lawn  party,  you  would  get  a  mix- 
ture distantly  approaching  it.  The  sun  was  now  setting  over 
the  Jumna,  and  those  of  the  pilgrims  who  were  lucky  enough 
to  have  anything  to  eat  were  finishing  their  evening  meal ;  so 
we  left  the  encampment  and  raced  with  the  fast-descending 
Indian  darkness,  back  over  the  sandy  roads  and  through  the 
dust-filled  air  and  fading  golden  light  to  our  ekkas,  which 
(after  more  than  an  hour's  jolting)  brought  us  to  Laurie's 
Great  Northern  Hotel,  where  we  found  a  score  of  Europeans 
who  had  come  to  town  to  hear  three  long-haired  Hungarian 
third-rate  violinists  play  cheap  music.  For  most  of  these 
Europeans  had  probably  never  heard  of  the  mela,  and  those 
who  had  evidently  considered  it  quite  unworthy  of  a  sahib's 
interest. 

The  next  morning  at  dawn  we  were  off  again  for  the  sacred 
waters,  through  streets  flowing  with  two  streams  of  humanity 
—  the  greater  one  going  with  us,  the  lesser  but  still  good-sized 
one  returning  after  having  already  washed  away  their  sins.  It 
was,  on  the  whole,  a  happy-looking  crowd  and  certainly  an  in- 
teresting one.  Most  of  the  pilgrims  carried  an  extra  dress  —  or 
cloth,  or  rag!  —  to  put  on  after  bathing,  and  many  had  their 
day's  provisions  and  various  other  impedimenta  in  their  hands 
and  on  their  heads.  Of  course,  a  brass  or  wooden  or  earthen 
40 


THE   HINDU   PILGRIM 

bowl  was  part  of  the  equipment  of  nearly  all :  and  many  of  those 
returning  were  treasuring  a  water-bottle  (of  brass  or  glass) 
filled  with  the  sacred  liquid. 

When  we  reached  the  ridge  and  left  our  carriage  to  join  the 
pilgrims  on  foot,  we  found  most  of  the  same  sights  as  on  the 
preceding  evening,  with  a  few  additional  ones.  In  the  distance 
ahead  of  us,  for  instance,  were  two  long  bamboo  poles  that 
were  waving  violently  to  and  fro  like  the  masts  of  a  ship  in  a 
storm.  As  we  approached  them  we  saw  dimly  that  something 
was  suspended  between  them.  And  then  it  became  a  little  hard 
—  and  rather  unpleasant  —  to  believe  our  eyes :  for  the  form 
took  human  shape,  and  we  found  it  was  a  man  (a  "holy"  man, 
of  course)  suspended  by  his  feet,  head  downward,  and  being 
swung  back  and  forth  by  another  holy  man  over  a  large  fire.  At 
each  swing  his  head  (which  was  wrapped  in  a  thick  and  steam- 
ing cloth)  went  through  the  top  of  the  flame.  His  fingers  were 
pressed  together  in  the  attitude  of  prayer  and  I  do  not  doubt 
that  he  was  praying.  Not  much  farther  on  a  rival  holy  man  was 
swinging  in  the  same  way  over  another  fire;  and  the  gaping 
crowd  was  paying  to  each  the  wonder  that  they  probably  de- 
sired. Yet  it  would  be  unjust  to  these  men,  I  believe,  to  assume 
that  notoriety  was  their  chief  aim.  There  are  easier  ways  of 
gaining  this,  in  India  as  elsewhere,  than  by  hanging  head-down 
over  a  roaring  fire.  And  we  shall  hardly  approximate  an  un- 
derstanding of  this  strange  phenomenon  of  Indian  asceticism 
unless  we  recognize  in  it  a  sincere  desire  to  crucify  the  flesh  for 
the  advancement  of  the  spirit. 

On  our  way  back  the  stream  of  pilgrims  coming  to  bathe  was 
even  greater  than  ever,  and  the  various  striking  features  more 
numerous  than  they  had  been.  One  of  the  holy  men,  to  be  sure, 
had  disappeared  from  his  gallows,  but  the  other  one  was  still 
swinging,  though  this  time  by  an  arm  —  three  hours  after  we 
had  first  seen  him.  Hundreds  of  pilgrims  of  unmistakably 
Mongolian  features  met  us,  probably  from  the  borders  of 
Nepal.  The  road  was  lined  for  a  mile  with  two  unbroken  rows 
of  beggars,  mostly  women,  with  cloths  spread  out  before  them 
for  the  reception,  not  of  copper  coins,  —  that  would  have  been  too 
much  to  ask!  —  but  of  rice;  and  many  of  the  passing  pilgrims 
would  throw  a  few  rice  grains  —  perhaps  five  or  ten  —  on  some 

41 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

of  the  cloths  —  not  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  the  beggar,  I 
presume,  but  for  the  acquisition  of  merit.  The  luckiest  of  these 
poor  women  whom  we  passed  had  as  yet  hardly  collected  more 
than  two  handfuls  of  rice.  In  one  place  we  saw  a  band  of  music 
approaching  us  leading  a  company  of  women  crowned  with 
wreaths  of  jasmine.  "Who  are  these  in  bright  array?"  I  asked 
my  friend  the  priest.  "These,"  said  he,  "are  public  prostitutes 
coming  to  wash  away  their  sins  —  and  acquire  a  new  crop." 
And  so  the  living  stream  poured  on  all  day.  The  official  esti- 
mate of  the  numbers  attending  the  mela  from  first  to  last  was 
seven  hundred  thousand.  The  year  previous  there  had  been 
between  one  and  two  million. 

In  the  middle  of  January  the  best  place  to  wash  away  sin  is 
probably  Allahabad.  But  for  a  steady  thing,  day  in  and  day 
out  through  the  year,  there  is  no  place  like  Benares.  It  has 
been  the  center  for  this  business  a  great  many  centuries.  No 
one  knows  how  old  the  city  is.  We  only  know  that  it  was  al- 
ready ancient  and  very  sacred  five  hundred  years  before  the 
birth  of  Christ.  It  has  been  destroyed,  piecemeal,  many  times, 
but  it  has  always  risen,  like  the  Phoenix,  from  its  ashes,  more 
resplendent  than  ever.  The  rich  and  great  have  vied  with  each 
other  in  adorning  it  with  temples  and  monasteries;  and  its 
water-front  especially  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  sights  to 
be  found  anywhere  in  the  world.  For  two  miles  and  a  half  the 
Ganges  is  bordered,  on  the  city  side,  with  temples  and  palaces, 
mosques  and  dharamshalas  from  which  the  ghats  lead  down  to 
the  water;  and  these  are  lined  with  men  and  women,  in  various 
brilliant  costumes  —  or  strange  lack  of  costume  —  bathing 
and  praying.  It  is  a  very  busy  scene,  for  religion  is  the  one 
great  business  of  Benares.  Its  streets  and  temples  and  ghats 
are  forever  full  of  a  flood  of  strangers  in  two  great  streams,  one 
of  them  arriving  and  importing  with  them  into  the  city  a  little 
money  and  great  quantities  of  sin,  the  other  leaving  for  home 
lighter  in  both  conscience  and  purse.  The  sins  have  gone  into 
the  Ganges,  and  the  money  into  the  pockets  of  the  priests  and 
the  stomachs  of  the  Brahmins.  The  detail  of  the  process  of 
ridding  one's  self  of  sin  is  very  complex,  but  in  general  there 
are  two  things  that  one  must  do,  namely,  bathe  in  the  river, 
with  the  recital  of  the  proper  prayers,  and  visit  the  most  sacred 
42 


THE   HINDU    PILGRIM 

of  the  temples  and  do  puja  to  Shiva,  who  in  Benares  is  the 
Great  God,  Mahadev.  Besides  these  things  one  must,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  pay  the  priests  Hberally,  both  at  the  river  and 
in  the  temples  —  and  everywhere  give  alms  to  the  holy  men. 
These  holy  men,  like  those  at  Allahabad,  are  persuaded  that  it 
is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive;  and  they  have  conse- 
crated their  lives  to  making  the  pious  pilgrims  as  blessed  as 
possible.  There  are  many  monasteries  and  many  dharamshalas, 
or  rest-houses,  where  hundreds  of  them  are  fed  every  day.  The 
mornings  they  spend  on  the  ghats  or  near  the  temples,  bathing, 
praying,  begging  alms,  conversing,  or  simply  "meditating." 
After  their  one  daily  meal  they  spend  the  entire  afternoon 
meditating.  The  contemplative  life  is  not  a  thing  of  the  past  in 
Benares.  Most  readers  of  this  book  will  have  heard  of  the  old 
man  who  described  his  daily  life  by  saying:  "Sometimes  I  set 
and  think,  and  sometimes  I  just  set."  It  seems  probable  that,  a 
large  part  of  the  time,  most  of  the  holy  men  of  Benares  "just 
set."  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  "holy  men" 
most  in  evidence  —  loafing  about  the  Golden  Temple  and 
making  long  prayers  on  the  ghats  —  are  far  from  representing 
the  really  spiritual  side  of  the  Hindu  religion.  Holy  men  there 
are  in  Benares  much  more  worthy  of  this  name;  but  these 
seldom  do  business  on  the  water-front  for  the  benefit  of  the 
tourist. 

Religion,  I  have  said,  is  a  business  on  the  Benares  water- 
front; but  it  may  be  a  pleasant  or  even  a  joyous  business,  min- 
gling a  mild  gayety  with  earnestness  and  solemnity.  When  one 
has  returned  from  the  ghats  he  feels  as  if  he  had  been  visiting, 
all  at  once,  a  Catholic  Church,  a  county  fair,  and  Atlantic  City. 
A  few  reverent  men  one  will  always  find,  finishing  their  ablu- 
tions and  praying  toward  the  sun  with  unmistakable  devout- 
ness.  Many  widows  and  other  women  there  are,  bathing  care- 
fully and  seriously;  and  side  by  side  with  them  others  who  seem 
to  be  having  a  rather  jolly  time  of  it.  Children  are  there,  run- 
ning about  all  over  the  broad  steps;  barbers  by  the  score  plying 
their  trade  (for  to  have  one's  head  shaved  is  a  religious  rite) ; 
snake-charmers  exhibiting  their  scorpions  and  making  neck- 
laces of  their  serpents ;  dhobis  or  washerwomen  —  and  washer- 
men —  slapping  some  sahib's  clothes  against  a  rock  or  pound- 

43 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ing  them  with  a  stone  so  that  the  buttons  all  come  off  —  for 
soap  is  a  luxury  quite  unknown  to  the  Indian  dhobi ;  ascetics 
and  sannyasins  begging  baksheesh;  would-be  guides  soliciting 
your  patronage  and  boatmen  offering  their  services;  women 
climbing  the  steps,  carrying  homeward  their  daily  load  of 
Ganges  water  in  brilliantly  polished  brass  pots;  coolies  landing 
merchandise  (for  the  ghats  are  used  for  commercial  as  well  as 
for  religious  purposes)  from  rickety  old  tub-like  sail-boats 
with  moth-eaten  sails  that  have  come  from  Chunar  or  some 
more  distant  river  town;  and  priests  by  the  hundred,  most  of 
them  fat,  with  bare  arms  and  breasts,  each  sitting  under  a  big 
straw  umbrella,  and  busied  in  putting  the  mark  of  the  Great 
God  on  the  foreheads  of  the  faithful  —  for  a  consideration. 
Then  there  are  other  men  in  little  groups,  engaged,  like  the 
coolies,  in  carrying  burdens,  but  these  not  of  a  commercial 
nature  —  unless  you  count  as  such  that  commerce  which  sets 
out  upon  the  Unknown  Sea.  These  burdens  of  theirs  are  wound 
round  with  red  or  white  cloth  and  fastened  to  two  long  bamboo 
poles  with  two  men  at  each  end.  They  have  come  through  the 
streets  of  the  city,  and  perhaps  from  some  distant  village,  sing- 
ing with  every  step:  "Ram  is  true!  Ram  is  true!  He  creates 
and  He  destroys."  Arrived  at  the  burning-ghat  they  set  their 
burden  down,  dipping  its  feet  in  the  river,  and  there  they  leave 
it  till  they  have  bought  wood  from  the  contractor  (who  regards 
business  as  business),  and  built  the  funeral  pyre  close  to  the 
water's  edge.  Before  doing  this  they  may  have  to  wait  till  one 
of  the  fires  they  find  burning  has  consumed  its  burden  —  for 
the  burning-ghat  is  a  busy  place,  night  and  day,  and  there  is 
not  always  room  for  the  newcomer.  When  the  pyre  is  built  the 
nearest  relative  of  the  deceased  goes  to  the  temple  and  haggles 
with  the  keeper  of  the  sacred  fire  over  the  price  of  a  spark ;  and 
having  paid  what  is  required  he  brings  the  fire  down  in  smould- 
ering straw  and  lights  the  pile.  If  the  family  can  afford  to  buy 
enough  wood,  the  body  is  completely  consumed;  in  any  case 
the  ashes  or  whatever  is  left  on  the  exhaustion  of  the  fire  is 
thrown  into  the  sacred  river;  —  and  any  failure  on  the  part  of 
the  fire  to  do  its  full  duty  is  made  good  by  the  fish  and  the 
crocodiles.  Whatever  it  be,  Mother  Ganga  receives  it  all  into 
her  bosom,  and  we  need  not  inquire  too  curiously  as  to  what 

44 


THE   HINDU   PILGRIM 

happens  there.  The  Hindu  does  not  inquire.  When  the  fire  is 
out,  he  breaks  an  earthen  jar  filled  with  water  upon  the  spot 
where  the  pyre  has  burned,  and,  looking  neither  to  the  right  nor 
to  the  left,  goes  homeward,  thinking  not  of  the  body  but  of  the 
spirit  that  is  gone.  For  death  is  only  an  incident  in  the  long 
journey  of  the  Hindu  pilgrim. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   MANY   GODS 

THE  most  popular  god  in  India  is  Shiva,  or  Mahadev.  His 
popularity  is  partly  the  result  of  his  very  complex  char- 
acter. He  has  absorbed  into  himself  varying  and  even  con- 
tradictory qualities,  so  that  worshipers  of  every  taste  may  be 
satisfied  in  him.  His  most  ancient  aspect  is  that  of  terror.  In 
the  Rig  Veda  —  for  he  goes  back  to  Vedic  times  —  he  is  known 
as  Rudra,  the  Ruddy,  the  Storm  God,  the  Terrible  One.  He  is 
the  Destroyer,  and  deals  in  death ;  he  is  Time,  and  devours  all. 
This  ancient  aspect  of  his  character  Shiva  has  in  our  times 
largely  laid  aside  or  rather  has  turned  it  over  to  his  consort 
Kali.  In  fact  the  name  "Shiva"  itself  means  the  "Auspicious 
One, "  and  as  such  he  is  regarded  not  merely  as  the  Destroyer, 
but  still  more  as  the  Regenerator.  If  he  destroys  it  is  to  renew: 
and  thus  destruction  becomes,  like  many  a  process  of  nature, 
merely  a  part  of  eternal  regeneration  and  development.  In  this 
sense  the  Great  God  might  almost  be  described  as  the  more  or 
less  personal  Power  of  Nature,  —  a  Power  that  is  irresistible, 
omnipresent,  and  beyond  good  and  evil.  It  is  to  this  aspect  of 
Shiva  that  the  phallic  elements  in  his  worship  belong.  His  is 
the  Reproductive  Power  of  Nature;  and  thus  he  is  also  the 
beneficent  producer  of  blessings,  the  Eternally  Blessed  One. 
This  aspect  of  Shiva  gives  him  a  kind  of  cosmic  largeness  which 
is  typically  Indian.  A  third  aspect  of  the  Great  God  is  less 
cosmic,  but  not  less  characteristic  of  Indian  thought.  He  is, 
namely,  the  Great  Ascetic,  dwelling  alone  among  the  mountains, 
in  eternal  meditation,  passionless,  immovable.^  It  is  this  per- 
haps more  than  anything  else  that  has  made  Shiva  the  most 
popular  god  in  India ;  for  in  being  the  perfect  ascetic  who  has 
renounced  everything  and  is  plunged  forever  in  meditation  he 

*  Besides  the  three  aspects  of  Shiva  that  I  have  described  (Destroyer, 
Nature  Force,  Ascetic),  Monier  Williams  enumerates  two  others:  a  learned 
sage,  the  revealer  of  grammar;  a  wild  and  jovial  mountaineer,  fond  of 
dancing,  drinking,  and  good  living. 

46 


THE  MANY   GODS 

represents  the  dearest  ideal  of  this  land.  Sister  Nivedita  can 
put  this  most  important  aspect  of  Shiva  —  and  of  India  — 
much  better  than  I :  — 

"In  India  life  has  one  test,  one  standard,  and  one  alone. 
Does  a  man  know  God  or  not?  That  is  all.  No  question  of 
fruits,  no  question  of  activity,  no  question  of  happiness.  Only 

—  has  the  soul  set  out  on  the  quest  of  realization?  .  .  .  [When 
this  is  done]  all  the  manifold  satisfactions  of  the  flesh  become  a 
burden.  Home  and  kindred  and  intercourse  with  the  world  be- 
come a  bondage.  Food  and  sleep  and  the  necessities  of  the 
physical  life  seem  indifferent  or  intolerable.  And  so  it  comes 
that  the  Great  God  of  the  Hindu  imagination  is  a  beggar. 
Covered  with  the  ashes  of  His  sacrificial  fire,  so  that  He  is 
white  like  snow,  His  hair  growing  untended  in  large  masses, 
oblivious  of  cold  or  heat,  silent,  remote  from  men,  He  sits  ab- 
sorbed in  eternal  meditation.  Those  eyes  of  His  are  half  closed. 
.  .  .  But  one  faculty  is  all  activity.  Within  it  has  been  indrawn 
all  the  force  of  all  the  senses.  Upright  in  the  middle  of  the  fore- 
head looks  forth  the  third  eye,  the  eye  of  inner  vision. 

"  He  is  the  refuge  of  animals.  About  His  neck  are  wound  the 
serpents  whom  none  else  would  receive.  Never  did  He  turn  any 
away.  The  mad  one,  the  eccentric,  the  crazed  and  queer,  and 
the  half-witted  amongst  men  —  for  all  these  there  is  room 
with  Shiva.  His  love  will  embrace  even  the  demoniac.  He  ac- 
cepts that  which  all  reject.  All  the  pain  and  evil  of  the  universe 
He  took  as  His  share  to  save  the  world,  when  He  drank  the 
poison  of  things,  and  made  His  throat  blue  forever.  He  pos- 
sesses so  little !  Only  the  old  bull  on  which  He  rides,  and  the 
tiger-skin  for  meditation,  and  a  string  or  two  of  praying  beads 

—  no  more. 

"Such  is  the  picture  that  springs  to  the  Indian  mind  as 
representing  the  Soul  of  the  Univferse  —  Shiva,  the  All-Merci- 
ful, the  Destroyer  of  Ignorance,  the  Great  God.  .  .  .  Perfect 
renunciation,  perfect  with-drawnness,  perfect  absorption  in 
eternity  —  these  things  alone  are  worthy  to  be  told  concerning 
Him  who  is  'the  Sweetest  of  the  Sweet,  the  most  Terrible  of 
the  Terrible,  the  Lord  of  Heroes,  and  the  Wondrous-Eyed.'  "  * 

^  Kali,  the  Mother  (London,  Sonnenschein,  1900),  pp.  30-33,  somewhat 
abridged. 

47 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

On  the  face  of  a  rock  at  Mahabalipuram,  a  few  miles  south 
of  Madras  and  near  the  sea,  there  is  a  gigantic  relief,  sculp- 
tured no  one  knows  how  many  centuries  ago,  and  called  "The 
Penance  of  Arjun,"  which  places  the  Indian's  concept  of  Shiva 
before  one's  eyes  in  plastic  form.  In  the  center  stands  the 
Great  God,  while  before  him  appear  representatives  of  the 
whole  animate  creation  from  the  supreme  human  being,  the 
ascetic,  down  to  the  elephant  with  his  mighty  tusks  and 
trunk,  the  human-headed  cobra  with  his  hood,  and  many 
another  beast  both  real  and  mythical  —  all  of  them  doing 
homage  with  unmistakable  reverence  to  Mahadev. 

It  is  uncertain  whether  the  personal  aspect  of  the  Great  God 
as  the  loving  ascetic,  or  his  impersonal  aspect  as  the  Force  back 
of  Nature,  was  most  in  the  mind  of  the  artist  who  chiseled  this 
group  —  or  is  most  in  the  mind  of  the  Indian.  The  two  aspects 
sway  back  and  forward  and  alternate,  one  changing  into  the 
other.  Shiva  is  made  all  things  to  all  men  that  by  all  means  he 
may  please  some.  For  those  who  desire  a  personal  god  he  is 
the  Great  Hermit,  seated  among  the  eternal  snows  of  the  Hima- 
layas; or  (for  the  more  vulgar)  he  is  the  Destroyer  of  Demons 
and  the  Protector  of  his  own.  dwelling  in  the  heavenly  Kailash 
with  his  wife  and  his  two  sons,  his  army  of  warrior  spirits  and 
the  souls  of  his  departed  worshipers  who  have  been  faithful  in 
their  puja  to  him  through  life.  For  the  more  philosophical,  — 
e.g.,  for  the  Shiva  sect  known  as  "Lingayats,"  —  he  is  "infin- 
ite intelligence  and  joy,  the  creator  of  the  world,  and  the  in- 
structor and  redeemer  of  mankind."  ^  For  a  large  part  of  the 
Vedanta  philosophers  he  is  really  one  aspect  of  Brahman,  the 
impersonal  consciousness  which  alone  is  real.  To  these  think- 
ers Shiva  is  the  personification  of  the  Impersonal,  the  manifes- 
tation of  the  Unmanifesting.  And  in  this  light  Sister  Nivedita 
writes  of  him:  "Undoubtedly  this  Hindu  idea  of  Shiva  is  the 
highest  conception  of  God  as  approached  by  the  spiritual  in- 
tuition of  man.  He  is  the  Divine  accessible  within  and  purified 
of  all  externals."  ^ 

Whether  one  can  agree  with  Sister  Nivedita  in  this  high 

1  R.  G.  Bhandarkar,  Vaisnavism,  Saivism,  and  Minor  Religious  Systems 
(Strassburg,  Triibner,  1913),  p.  156. 
»  The  Master  as  I  saw  Him  (Calcutta  Udbodhan  Office,  1910),  p.  161. 

48 


THE   MANY   GODS 

praise  will  depend  largely  upon  one's  opinion  on  the  question 
whether  morality  should  be  a  part  of  the  character  of  the 
Divine.  In  the  conception  of  Shiva  at  its  best  the  cosmic  has 
nearly  crowded  out  the  moral;  like  other  Indian  gods  he  is  too 
great  to  be  good.  He  is  "beyond  good  and  evil."  But  whether 
the  reader  admires  Shiva  or  not,  he  can  now,  I  hope,  under- 
stand to  some  extent  the  intense  devotion  of  his  votaries  to 
their  God.  So  highly  cultured  a  thinker  as  Swami  Viveka- 
nanda,  a  man  who  had  lived  in  Europe  and  America  for  years 
and  knew  Western  thought  almost  as  well  as  Eastern,  could 
find  in  Mahadev  the  fulfillment  of  nearly  all  his  needs.  In 
the  ice-cavern  of  Amarnath  among  the  Himalayas,  a  shrine  of 
Shiva  to  which  he  made  a  pilgrimage,  he  had  a  vision  of  the 
Great  God.  "As  he  entered  the  Cave,  it  seemed  to  him  as  if 
he  saw  Shiva  made  visible  before  him.  Amidst  the  buzzing, 
swarming  noise  of  the  pilgrim  crowd,  and  the  overhead  flut- 
tering of  the  pigeons,  he  knelt  and  prostrated  two  or  three 
times  unnoticed;  and  then,  afraid  lest  emotion  might  over- 
come him,  he  rose  and  silently  withdrew."  ^  And  again  and 
again  in  hours  of  silent  meditation  and  prayer  he  was  overheard 
murmuring:  "O  Shiva!  Shiva!"  As  Sister  Nivedita  says  of 
Shiva's  devotees  in  general:  "To  them  there  is  nothing  in  the 
world  so  strong  and  pure  and  all-merciful  as  their  God,  and 
the  books  and  poems  of  Hindus  are  very  few  in  which  he  is 
not  referred  to  with  this  passionate  worship."  ^  ,,^ 

Shiva  is  the  most  popular  god  in  India,  but  he  has  not  the 
largest  number  of  exclusive  worshipers.  This  honor  is  reserved 
for  the  other  great  god  of  Hinduism  —  Vishnu.  These  two 
gods,  together  with  their  wives  and  incarnations,  divide  be- 
tween them  almost  the  whole  cult  of  Hinduism.  Many  Hindus 
worship  both ;  but  a  great  many  devote  themselves  exclusively 
to  the  worship  of  one  only,  regarding  him  as  the  one  divine  real- 
ity, of  whom  all  other  gods  are  but  names  and  forms.  Devotees 
of  a  special  god  in  this  special  way  are  known  as  sectarians;  and 
the  two  great  sects  of  India  are,  of  course,  the  Vaishnavites  or 
devotees  of  Vishnu,  and  the  Shaivites  or  the  devotees  of  Shiva. 
As  I  have  indicated  above,  the  Vaishnavites  (if  we  include 

»  The  Master  as  I  saw  Him  (Calcutta  Udbodhan  Office,  1910),  p.  158. 
^  The  Web  of  Indian  Life  (London,  Heinemann,  1904),  p.  219. 

49 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

among  them  the  worshipers  of  Vishnu's  incarnations)  are  the 
more  numerous  of  the  two. 

The  name  Vishnu  and  his  cult  go  back  to  Vedic  times;  but 
the  god  as  conceived  and  worshiped  to-day  includes  many 
other  elements  beside  the  Vedic.  As  a  great  river  carries  with 
it  the  waters  of  many  a  tributary,  Vishnu  has  absorbed  into 
himself  the  characteristics  of  several  deities  of  the  Indian  past, 
with  whom  in  the  course  of  centuries  he  has  become  identified. 
Mr.  Bhandarkar  has  recently  pointed  out  four  of  these  as  es- 
pecially important:  (i)  the  Vedic  Vishnu,  who  was  a  sun  god; 
(2)  Vasudeva,  perhaps  originally  a  man  who  after  his  death 
was  deified,  and  whose  cult  came  to  be  especially  characterized 
by  devotion  and  by  a  theistic  rather  than  a  pantheistic  view  of 
God;  (3)  Narayana,  a  name  for  the  Supreme  (and  pantheistic) 
Spirit  in  late  Brahmanic  times:  and  (4)  Krishna  —  of  whom 
more  presently.^ 

Being  combined  from  so  many  different  elements,  the  con- 
ception of  Vishnu,  like  that  of  Shiva,  varies  with  his  various 
worshipers.  He  is  sometimes  pictured  as  a  personal  being,  dwell- 
ing with  his  wife  in  a  definite  locality;  sometimes  he  is  con- 
ceived as  the  Infinite  Spirit,  present  everywhere  and  appearing 
in  all  phenomena  as  the  Real  behind  the  seeming.  This  larger 
and  philosophical  aspect  is  more  emphasized  by  worshipers 
than  is  the  philosophic  aspect  of  Shiva;  and  his  more  defi- 
nitely personal  side  is  correspondingly  undeveloped.  Still, 
something  may  be  said  of  it.  Vishnu  resides  in  a  distant  heaven 
with  his  wife  Lakshml  —  in  fact  some  give  him  three  wives. 
Like  Shiva  he  has  four  hands,  each  of  which  is  commonly  repre- 
sented as  holding  an  emblem  peculiar  to  himself  —  usually  the 
conch,  symbolic  of  creative  sound,  the  mace  for  sovereignty, 
the  charkra  (or  wheel)  for  energy,  and  the  lotus  for  spirit  and 
matter.  Often  he  is  pictured  as  reclining  with  his  wife  on  the 
great  serpent  Sesha,  while  Brahma  —  the  ancient  creator  — 
issues  from  his  navel.  If  Brahma  is  the  Creator  and  Shiva  the 
Destroyer,  Vishnu  is  the  Preserver.  There  is  nothing  in  his 
cult  (as  in  that  of  Shiva)  that  is  frightful  or  terrible.  He  is  em- 
phatically the  Indian  God  of  Love  —  with  all  that  that  im- 
plies for  good  and  evil.  For  his  philosophical  worshiper  he  is, 
*  Bhandarkar,  op.  cit. 
50 


THE   MANY   GODS 

of  course,  much  more  than  this,  being  in  fact  the  sole  ReaHty, 
of  whom  the  entire  material  world  and  all  spirits  of  men  and 
gods  form  but  the  body.  This,  however,  is  a  conception  that 
will  detain  us  in  a  later  chapter.  But  here  something  must  be 
said  of  one  unique  and  most  important  characteristic  of  Vishnu, 
namely,  the  conception  that  he  has  appeared  to  men  and  lived 
among  them  in  the  form  of  avatars  or  incarnations. 

No  one  can  say  why  or  how  this  doctrine  of  incarnation 
arose,  but  once  started  it  proved  peculiarly  popular  among 
Vaishnavites,  and  in  fact  Vishnu  is  worshiped  to-day  chiefly 
through  his  avatars.  He  has,  indeed,  incarnated  himself  not 
once  but  many  times,  the  number  usually  being  put  at  ten. 
Several  of  these  were  animal  forms;  but  as  only  tw^o  of  Vishnu's 
incarnations,  and  these  both  human,  are  taken  seriously  by 
Hindus  to-day,  I  shall  not  trouble  the  reader  with  the  list.  The 
list  is,  indeed,  retained  by  pious  Hindus  pro  forma  —  just  as  the 
doctrine  of  the  damnation  of  unbaptized  infants  and  of  the 
heathen  was  long  retained  by  many  good  Christians  as  a  pious 
form  of  words  long  after  all  real  belief  in  it  had  become  im- 
possible. But  that  God  —  the  one  God  —  became  incarnate  in 
the  man  Rama  or  in  the  man  Krishna  is  a  very  living  belief , 
with  millions  of  devout  Vaishnavites. 

Of  these  two  incarnations  Ram  or  Rama  (both  spellings  are 
common)  is  the  older  and  (according  to  Western  notions)  the 
more  admirable;  he  is  also  the  less  popular.  Some  divisions 
of  the  Vaishnavite  sect  regard  him  as  ver>'  God  of  very  God 
—  hardly  even  as  an  incarnation.  To  them  the  one  great  name 
for  God  is  "  Ram."  He  first  appears  in  the  heroic  poem  of  Val- 
miki  (written  perhaps  500  B.C.)  as  a  brave  and  noble  prince, 
with,  however,  no  suggestion  of  being  in  any  sense  divine.  The 
story  of  the  loss  of  his  faithful  wife  Sita  and  his  recovery  of 
her  is  one  of  the  favorite  tales  of  India  and  has  exerted  a  con- 
siderable influence  for  thousands  of  years  in  moulding  Indian 
ideals  of  manly  courage  and  womanly  fidehty  and  devotion. 
Sita  is  stolen  by  the  arch-demon  Ravana  and  eventually  re- 
covered by  Rama,  who  slays  the  demon  through  the  aid  of 
his  faithful  friend  Hanuman,  the  monkey  god.  Incidentally  let 
me  add  that  the  story  thus  explains  the  popularity  of  Hanu- 
man, who  to  us  Westerners,  ignorant  of  Hindu  mythology, 
51 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

seems  a  ver>'  horrid  creature  because  we  take  him  to  be  merely 
a  monkey;  while  to  the  Hindu  he  stands  for  all  that  is  fine  in 
faithful  friendship.  This  original  story  of  Ram  and  his  friends 
long  antedates  the  Indian  concept  of  incarnation.  When,  now, 
the  new  idea  had  taken  root,  Rama  was  made  one  of  Vishnu's 
avatars,  and  Valmiki's  poem  was  to  some  extent  made  over  (by 
additions  and  interpolations) ;  and  finally  in  the  Ramayana.^ 
written  about  i6oobyTulsi  Das  in  Hindi,  —  the  real  Bible  of  the 
Rama  worshipers  to-day,  —  Rama  is  portrayed  as  the  complete 
incarnation  of  the  Absolute  and  Supreme  Spirit.  The  old  story 
is  retained  and  repeated,  but  not  for  a  moment  are  we  allowed 
to  forget  that  Rama,  for  all  his  human  form,  is  in  fact  the 
Supreme  Being.  The  myster>^  and  beauty  of  the  incarnation 
idea  has  seldom  been  more  strikingly  expressed.  The  following 
lines  will  convey  some  notion  of  the  general  religious  attitude 
of  the  poem  toward  the  Incarnate  One :  — 

"Seers  and  sages,  saints  and  hermits,  fix  on  Him  their  reverent  gaze. 
And  in  faint  and  trembling  accents  Holy  Scripture  hymns  His  praise. 
He,  the  omnipresent  Spirit,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  and  hell, 
To  redeem  his  people,  freely,  has  vouchsafed  with  men  to  dwell."  * 

The  Gospel  of  Rama  according  to  Tulsi  Das  is  certainly  one 
of  the  most  important  and  widespread  influences  in  Hinduism 
to-day.  Ninety  million  people  in  upper  India  are  said  to  accept 
it  as  the  core  of  their  religion.  According  to  Mr.  Grierson,  "All 
forms  of  religion,  all  beliefs  and  all  forms  of  non-belief  in  the 
ordinary  polytheism  of  the  many  Hindu  cults,  were  to  Tulsi 
Das  but  so  many  accidents  beside  the  great  truths  on  which  he 
was  never  weary  of  laying  stress:  namely,  that  there  is  one  Su- 
preme Being;  that  sin  is  hateful,  not  because  it  defiles  the  sinner, 
but  because  it  is  incompatible  with  the  Supreme  Being;  that 
man  is  by  nature  infinitely  sinful  and  unworthy  of  salvation; 
that,  nevertheless,  the  Supreme  Being,  in  his  infinite  mercy, 
became  incarnate  in  the  person  of  Rama  to  relieve  the  world  of 
sin;  that  this  Rama  has  returned  to  heaven,  and  is  there,  as 
Rama,  now;  that  mankind  has  therefore  a  God  who  is  not  only 
infinitely  merciful  but  who  knows  by  actual  experience  how 

1  This  is  the  name  by  which  the  poem  is  commonly  known ;  the  name 
given  it  by  its  author  is  Rama  Manas  Charita. 
*  Translation  by  Growse   (Allahabad,  1883). 

52 


THE   MANY   GODS 

great  are  man's  infirmities  and  temptations,  and  who,  though 
himself  incapable  of  sin,  is  ever  ready  to  extend  his  help  to  the 
sinful  being  that  calls  upon  him."  ^ 

Rama,  whether  in  his  anthropomorphic  or  in  his  more  phil- 
osophical form,  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  figures  of  the 
Hindu  pantheon.  He  is  not,  however,  the  most  commonly 
worshiped.  In  popularity  he  cannot  equal  Vishnu's  other 
great  avatar  —  Krishna.  But  while  Krishna  is  much  more 
popular  than  Rama,  the  origin  of  his  worship  is  thought  by 
many  to  have  been  humbler,  and  his  character  as  depicted  in 
the  story^  of  his  incarnation  is  unquestionably  less  noble.  The 
Indians,  of  course,  believe  Krishna  to  have  been  a  real  histor- 
ical person,  and  in  this  they  have  the  backing  of  some  Western 
scholars  —  notably  of  Professor  Garbe,  whose  Einleitimg  to 
his  recent  translation  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita  is  one  of  the  most 
important  studies  of  the  Krishna  cult.  Professor  Garbe  believes 
Krishna  to  have  lived  about  two  hundred  years  before  Buddha, 
to  have  been  the  son  of  Vasudeva,  to  have  founded  a  monothe- 
istic and  ethical  religion,  and  eventually  to  have  been  deified 
and  identified  with  the  monotheistic  god  Vasudeva  whose 
worship  he  founded.-  Whether  this  be  accepted  or  not,  there  are 
certain  elements  in  the  Krishna  cult,  as  found  in  the  Puranas 
and  various  other  books,  which  are  far  from  moral  and  which 
do  not  seem  to  have  originated  in  the  rather  pure  worship  of 
Vasudeva.  Professor  Bhandarkar  supposes  that  these  elements 
originated  among  a  nomadic  tribe  of  cowherds,  whose  god 
came  to  be  identified  with  that  of  Krishna- Vasudeva  when, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  they  migrated  from 
the  Punjab  to  the  Ganges  Valley.  However  this  may  be,  the 
cult  of  Krishna  Vasudeva  was  early  associated  with  that  of 
Vishnu,  and  when  the  incarnation  concept  became  popular  he 
was  accepted  as  the  chief  avatar  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  ir/ 
fact  as  quite  identical  with  him. 

"Though  birthless  and  unchanging  of  essence"  (Krishna- 
Vishnu  is  made  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita  to  say  of  himself)  "and 
though  Lord  of  born  beings,  yet  in  my  sway  over  the  Nature 

^  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India,  vol.  n  (Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1909), 
p.  418. 

*  Die  Bhagavad  Gita  (Leipsig,  Hoessal,  1905),  pp.  19-37. 

53 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

that  is  mine  own  I  come  into  birth  by  mine  own  magic.  For 
whensoever  Religion  fails  and  lawlessness  uprises,  I  bring  my- 
self to  bodied  birth.  To  guard  the  righteous,  to  destroy  evil- 
doers, to  establish  Religion  I  come  into  birth  age  after  age."  ^ 

As  I  have  said,  Krishna  is  considered  by  all  good  Hindus  a 
historical  character.  The  story  of  his  life  is  told  in  several  of  the 
Vaishnavite  Puranas  (or  historico-theological  works),  while  he 
is  represented  as  the  speaker  in  that  most  sacred  book  of  all 
Hindu  religious  literature,  the  Bhagavad  Gita.  The  story  told 
in  the  Puranas,  if  taken  literally,  does  not  make  very  elevated 
reading;  but  in  the  earlier  Puranas,  at  any  rate,  it  is  impossible 
to  take  the  stor>'  literally,  so  obvious  and  unescapable  is  the  in- 
tent of  the  writer  to  present  not  so  much  a  tale  as  an  allegory 
of  God  and  the  soul.  Krishna  is  a  man  —  yes,  in  a  sense.  Yet 
at  every  turn  the  god  shines  through.  Whoever  reads  the 
Vishnu  Purana  or  the  Bhagavad  Purana  in  literal  and  legal- 
istic fashion  will  therefore  quite  miss  the  point.  One  must  take 
the  Oriental  point  of  view  and  be  prepared  for  much  symbol- 
ism if  he  would  understand. 

The  incarnation  of  Vishnu  in  the  human  form  of  Krishna  and 
the  consequent  spread  of  true  religion  is  thus  portrayed  in  the 
Vishnu  Purana:  "The  divine  Vishnu  himself,  the  god  of  the 
vast  universal  tree,  inscrutable  by  the  understanding  of  all  the 
gods,  demons,  and  sages  past,  present,  and  to  come,  he  who  is 
without  beginning,  middle  or  end,  being  moved  to  relieve  the 
earth  of  her  load,  descended  into  the  womb  of  Devaki  and  was 
born  as  her  son  Vasudeva  [  =  Vishnu  =  Krishna].  Yoganindra, 
proud  to  execute  his  orders,  removed  the  embryo  to  Yasoda, 
the  wife  of  Nandi  the  cowherd.  At  his  birth  the  earth  was  re- 
lieved from  all  iniquity;  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets  shone  with 
unclouded  splendor;  all  fear  of  calamitous  portents  was  dis- 
pelled; and  universal  happiness  prevailed.  From  the  moment 
he  appeared  all  mankind  were  led  into  the  righteous  path  in 
him.  While  this  Powerful  Being  resided  in  this  world  he  had 
16,000  wives.  ...  By  these  the  Universal  Form  begot  180,000 
sons."  2 

1  Bhagavad  Gita,  iv,  6-8.   Barnett's  translation  (London,  Dent,  1905). 
'  Vishnu    Purana,    iv,   15.    Wilson's    translation    (London,    Triibner, 
1864-77). 

54 


THE   MANY  GODS 

Krishna  was  thus  born  in  a  most  lowly  condition,  as  the  son 
of  a  cowherd,  and  was  brought  up  by  his  foster  father  Nandi 
and  his  —  what  shall  we  call  her?  —  quasi-mother  Yasoda,  in 
their  rude  and  rustic  home,  which  is  now  identified  by  pious 
Hindus  as  the  village  of  Mahaban,  on  the  Jumna.  Throughout 
his  infancy  and  babyhood  he  performed  many  marvelous  and 
magical  exploits,  but  nothing  in  the  story  suggests  that  he  had 
any  kind  of  moral  distinction.  Like  other  rustics  he  played 
upon  the  flute  and  loved  the  dance,  and  all  the  milkmaids  of 
the  country-side  —  the  "  Gopis  "  as  they  are  called  —  lost  their 
hearts  to  him.  His  exploits  among  them  seem  to  have  been 
anything  but  exemplary.  This  decidedly  immoral  element  in 
the  Krishna  concept  probably  came  from  the  original  Krishna 
legend  of  the  wandering  tribes  of  herdsmen  with  whom  his  cult 
is  thought  to  have  originated.  It  is  interesting,  therefore,  to  note 
that  the  philosophic  writer  of  the  Vishnu  Purana  makes  use  of 
this  erotic  element  in  the  same  way  in  which  Christian  theolo- 
gians and  especially  Christian  mystics  in  the  Middle  Ages  made 
use  of  the  erotic  elements  in  the  Song  of  Songs.  To  all  of  these 
writers  earthly  love  was  merely  a  symbol  of  the  relation  of  the 
soul  to  God.  "Whilst  He  was  frolicking  thus  with  the  Gopis," 
says  the  Vishnu  Purana,  "  they  considered  every  instant 
without  Him  as  a  myriad  of  years.  .  .  .  Thus  the  illimitable 
Being,  the  benevolent  remover  of  all  imperfections,  assumed 
the  character  of  youth  amongst  the  maidens  of  the  herds- 
men of  Vraja;  pervading  their  natures  and  that  of  their  lords 
by  His  own  essence,  all-diffusive  like  the  wind.  For  even  as  in 
all  creatures  the  elements  of  ether,  fire,  earth,  water,  and  air  are 
comprehended,  so  also  is  He  everywhere  present  and  in  all."  ^ 

Even  in  the  Purana,  then,  Krishna  makes  no  pretense  at 
being  chaste  or  pure.  When  the  question  arose  who  should 
be  entrusted  with  a  certain  miraculous  jewel,  Krishna  said  it 
must  be  kept  only  by  some  person  who  was  pure.  "Now,"  he 
added,  "as  I  have  16,000  wives  I  am  not  qualified  for  the  care 
of  it."  The  conception  of  the  Puranas  seems  to  be  both  that 
the  actions  of  the  god  are  sport,  and  that  the  moral  category 
does  not  apply  to  him,  and  also  that  most  of  the  tales  concern- 
ing him  have  a  symbolical  as  well  as  a  literal  significance. 
'  Vishnu  Purana,  v,  13. 

55 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

It  is,  perhaps,  in  part,  this  elusive,  this  multiform  nature  of 
Krishna  that  has  made  him,  next  to  Shiva,  the  most  popular 
deity  of  Hinduism.  By  his  many  attributes  he  is  able  to  appeal 
to  the  high  and  to  the  low,  to  the  philosophical  and  the  ignorant, 
to  the  lofty  and  the  immoral.  The  picture  of  the  Infinite  God  in 
the  body  of  a  little  helpless  child  has  the  same  immense  appeal 
in  India  that  it  has  in  Christendom.  As  every  Catholic  church 
at  Christmas-time  has  its  creche,  with  a  miniature  Jesus  lying 
in  a  manger,  so  all  over  India  you  will  find  shrines  of  the  baby 
Krishna,  in  which  images  of  the  divine  child  are  tended  as  if  it 
were  a  living  baby.  The  center  of  his  worship  is  Mahaban, 
where  according  to  the  tale  his  infancy  was  passed.  It  is  a 
place  of  pilgrimage  to  pious  Vaishnavites,  and  I  made  a  pil- 
grimage thither  among  them.  The  center  of  interest  in  the 
little  isolated  village  is  the  so-called  "Palace  of  Nandi"  —  a 
hall  with  many  curiously  carved  stone  pillars,  near  one  end  of 
which  are  large  wooden  images  of  Nandi  and  Yasoda,  Krishna's 
foster  father  and  mother,  while  mementoes  of  Krishna's  boy- 
hood are  preserved  with  pious  credulity  and  care  in  various 
parts  of  the  building  —  the  most  important  of  these  being  an 
enormous  cane  which  is  exhibited  as  Yasoda's  churning-stick. 
But  the  devotion  of  the  good  Vaishnavite  worshipers  is  cen- 
tered on  a  large  cradle  in  which  sits  a  baby  doll,  gorgeously 
dressed,  and  representing,  of  course,  the  infant  Krishna.  A  big 
Brahmin  priest  was  standing  by  the  cradle  as  we  entered  the 
hall,  deferentially  rocking  it,  so  as  to  give  the  baby  god  his 
daily  nap.  This  is  part  of  the  regular  service,  performed  in 
many  a  temple  of  Krishna  every  day.  I  append  in  a  note  other 
details  of  the  cult,  as  practiced  by  one  of  the  sub-sects  of  the 
Vaishnavas.^ 

1  After  an  elaborate  series  of  performances,  —  bathing,  the  recitation  of 
mantras,  etc.,  —  the  devotee  "should  approach  the  bedroom  [of  the  child 
Krishna]  and  sing  a  song  calling  upon  Krishna  to  rise  from  sleep,  to  take  re- 
freshments prepared  for  him  and  to  go  with  his  companions  to  the  forest  for 
grazing  the  cows.  Krishna  should  be  brought  out  and  placed  on  the  throne. 
Radha  [his  favorite  wife]  should  be  placed  on  his  left  hand  and  then  the  wor- 
shiper should  prostrate  himself  before  her.  The  refreshments  already  pre- 
pared should  then  be  placed  before  them,  and  they  should  be  requested  to 
eat  them.  Then  the  bed  should  be  dusted  and  cleaned  and  Krishna  should 
be  made  to  wash  his  mouth.  Other  refreshments  should  then  be  placed  be- 
fore the  two.  At  the  end  of  all,  a  waving  of  lamps  should  be  gone  through 

56 


THE   MANY   GODS 

The  boy  Krishna  is  even  a  greater  favorite  than  the  baby. 
All  over  India  images  and  pictures  of  him  are  to  be  found,  in 
the  easy  posture  of  boyhood,  playing  on  the  pipe  ^  —  symbol  of 
the  divine  activity  which  is  always  play.  When  these  represen- 
tations of  Krishna  are  in  color,  the  color  is  always  deep  blue. 
This  does  not  please  Western  eyes,  and  the  tourist  is  therefore 
likely  to  conclude  that  Krishna  is  a  "horrid  little  nigger"  — 
not  knowing  that  nearly  everything  in  India  is  symbolic  and 
that  the  blue  of  Krishna's  face,  like  the  blue  of  the  sea  and  of 
the  sky,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Hindu  stands  for  infinity. 

"The  popular  and  growing  belief  of  the  Hindu  masses," 
writes  Sister  Nivedita,  "consists  of  various  forms  of  the  wor- 
ship of  Krishna.  It  is  this  creed  that  carries  to  those  who  need 
it  a  religious  emotionalism  like  that  of  the  Salvation  Army  or 
of  Methodism.  In  the  hottest  nights,  during  periods  of  're- 
vivals,' the  streets  of  a  city  will  be  crowded  with  men  bearing 
lights  and  banners,  and  dancing  themselves  into  a  frenzy  to 
such  words  as :  — 

'"Call  on  the  Lord, 
Call  on  the  Lord, 
Call  on  the  Lord,  little  brother! 
Than  this  name  of  the  Lord 
For  mortal  man 
There  is  no  other  way.' 

He  is  known  as  the  Holy  Child,  born  in  humility  amidst 
cowherds  by  the  Jumna;  the  Gentle  Shepherd  of  the  People, 
the  Wise  Counsellor,  the  Blessed  Lord,  tender  Lover  and 
Savior  of  the  human  soul ;  and  by  other  names  not  less  familiar 
to  ourselves.  It  is  an  image  of  the  baby  Krishna  that  the 
Indian  mother  adores  as  the  Bambino,  calling  it  'Gopala,'  her 

with  song.  Then  comes  the  bath.  After  bathing,  saffron  paint  should  be 
applied  [to  the  image].  He  should  then  be  dressed  and  milk  be  given  him. 
Afterwards  by  the  churning  of  milk  froth  should  be  prepared  and  ofTered  to 
Krishna.  He  should  then  be  told  to  wash  his  mouth  with  water.  Then 
betel  leaves  should  be  offered  him.  Then  a  cradle  should  be  adorned  and 
Krishna  should  be  told  to  get  into  it,  and  it  should  be  rocked  and  toys  be  got 
ready  for  the  divine  boy.  Afterwards  the  midday  dinner  should  be  prepared. 
...  In  this  manner  the  ceremonies  go  on.  A  meal  is  again  prepared  at  night 
and  Krishna  is  laid  on  the  sleeping-cot  and  made  to  sleep  again."  (Bhan- 
darkar,  op.  cit.,  p.  8i.)  This  is  a  description  of  the  cult  as  practiced  by  the 
Vallabha  sect. 

*  See  the  picture  on  the  cover  of  this  volume. 

57 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

cowherd.  His  name  fills  gospels  and  poems,  the  folk-songs  of  all 
Hindu  races  are  full  of  descriptions  of  Him  as  a  cowherd  wan- 
dering and  sporting  amongst  His  fellows;  and  childish  litera- 
ture is  full  of  stories  of  Him  curiously  like  European  tales  of 
the  Christ-child.  To  the  ecstatic  mystic,  He  is  the  Divine 
Spouse."  ^ 

The  reader  will  have  noted,  without  my  pointing  them  out 
to  him,  the  two  very  diverging  tendencies  in  the  concept  of 
Krishna,  one  lofty,  philosophical,  mystic,  the  other  low  and 
sensual.  Both  these  elements  in  the  Krishna  concept  have  had 
their  influence  and  their  following;  and  so  we  find,  besides  the 
general  and  popular  Krishna  cult,  two  groups  of  special  devo- 
tees, one  of  whom  has  emphasized  the  erotic  and  one  the 
philosophical  aspect  of  their  god.  The  former  and  lower  of 
these  tendencies  is  seen  in  several  Vaishnavite  sects,  some  of 
which  center  their  worship  particularly  on  Radha,  who  in  the 
later  sectarian  works  is  represented  as  Krishna's  favorite  mis- 
tress. In  their  worship  of  the  passionate  pair  these  Vaish- 
navites  regard  sexual  passion  as  the  type  of  divine  love  and  as 
the  means  of  entering  into  communion  with  the  deity. ^  The 
climax  of  this  ' '  religious ' '  filth  was  attained  by  the  sect  founded 
about  1500  by  Vallabha  and  still  existing  in  parts  of  India.  This 
man  not  only  preached  the  doctrine  of  divine  union  by  means 
of  sensual  passion  indicated  above,  but  succeeded  in  persuading 
his  many  followers  that  he  and  all  his  male  descendants  were 
incarnations  of  Krishna.  I  cannot  detail  here  the  unspeakably 
vile  practices  to  which  this  led,  but  some  of  them  may  be 
imagined:  and  the  reader  can  find  them  exposed  at  length  in 
"The  History  of  the  Sect  of  the  Maharajas,"  ^  which  reports 

^  The  Web  0}  Indian  Life,  pp.  224-25. 

2  This  abuse  of  Vaishnavism  has  its  parallel  in  an  abuse  of  Christianity 
to  be  found  in  an  offshoot  of  the  Russian  Church  called  the  Skoptsy.  Among 
the  members  of  this  sect  the  Virgin  Mary  has  a  position  similar  to  that  of 
Radha  among  the  sensual  sects  of  Vaishnavites.  She  is  represented  in  their 
meetings  by  a  beautiful  girl;  and  their  methods  of  attaining  union  with  the 
Divine  are  quite  on  a  par  with  those  of  India.  But  these  Russian  Christians 
are  not  content  with  licentious  worship.  They  add  to  it  the  horror  of  eating 
human  flesh  which  they  have  cut  from  the  girl  whom  they  adore  as  the 
Madonna.  See  Tsakni,  La  Russie  Sectaire  (Paris,  Plon  et  Nourrit,  1888), 
chap.  V. 

*  Published  in  London,  1865. 

58 


THE   MANY   GODS 

the  findings  at  the  famous  Bombay  libel  suit  in  i860,  in  which 
the  bestialities  of  this  "religious"  sect  were  brought  to  light. 

In  connection  with  this  sensual  aspect  of  the  lower  forms  of 
Hinduism,  an  Indian  philosopher  said  to  me:  "An  earnest  effort 
is  being  made  to  put  a  stop  to  this  sort  of  thing,  but  it  has  not 
succeeded  and  probably  never  will  succeed  fully.  The  sect 
of  the  Maharajas,  for  instance,  probably  continues  its  erotic 
practices,  though  it  received  a  severe  blow  in  the  libel  suit. 
And  the  worst  of  it  is  that  when  this  evil  is  suppressed  in  one 
place  it  breaks  out  in  another.  There  is  no  doubt  that  in  various 
parts  of  India  sensual  practices  are  sanctioned  and  encour- 
aged in  the  name  of  rehgion.  It  seems  to  be  inherent  in  hu- 
man nature  for  it  to  break  out  somewhere.  I  am  told  that  in 
Europe  it  takes  cover  under  the  name  'Art.'  In  India  its  cover 
is  Religion  instead.  —  It  seems  as  if  the  writers  of  some  of  the 
ancient  books,  seeing  that  this  sort  of  thing  was  inevitable  in 
human  nature,  had  deliberately  made  some  place  for  it  in 
religion,  as  a  kind  of  vent  for  filth." 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  this  erotic  aspect  of 
Vaishnavism  is  confined  to  a  relatively  small  part  of  the  sect 
as  a  whole,  and  that  in  every  land  and  in  almost  every  form  of 
faith  parallel  instances  are  to  be  found  in  which  sensualism  is 
mistaken  for  religion,  or  at  least  seeks  to  disguise  itself  under 
some  pious  name.  The  great  majority  of  the  more  devoted 
followers  of  Krishna  find  excesses  such  as  these  most  repug- 
nant. To  them  "Sri  Krishna"  is  the  embodiment  of  all  that 
is  purest  and  noblest;  and  it  is  especially  in  the  more  spiritual 
aspects  and  relations  and  emotions  of  life  that  they  believe  they 
find  the  Lord,  —  though  Indeed,  for  them  he  is  also  present 
everywhere.  "All  our  human  relations,"  writes  a  contemporary 
Vaishnavite  philosopher,  "are  mere  reflexes  of  these  relations 
as  they  exist  in  His  own  being.  Sri  Krishna  thus  spiritualizes 
all  these  social  relations,  even  as  He  spiritualizes  our  physical 
activities  and  enjoyments.  In  his  master  the  devout  Vaish- 
nava  thus  sees  his  Krishna.  In  his  personal  friends  he  realizes 
and  relishes  Krishna  as  Friend.  In  his  son  and  father,  in  his 
daughter  or  mother,  he  realizes  and  serves  his  Krishna.  In  his 
conjugal  life  and  relation  he  realizes  and  enjoys  the  highest, 
the  deepest  love  of  Krishna.  It  is  thus  that  in  Hindu  Vaishna- 
59 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

vism  we  have  a  more  thorough,  more  concrete,  at  once  a  more 
real  and  a  more  ideal  presentation  of  the  Universal  than  per- 
haps we  have  in  any  other  culture.  In  Vaishnavism  the  innate 
sense  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Universal  of  the  Indo-Aryan  Race- 
Consciousness  seems  to  have  found  its  loftiest  and  deepest 
expression.  If  you  wish  to  visualize  the  soul  of  India  you  must 
seek  and  find  it  in  Sri  Krishna."  ^ 

To  Vaishnavas  of  this  type,  the  great  religious  book  is  not 
the  Puranas,  —  and  especially  not  the  late  and  erotic  Puranas, 
—  but  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  the  "Divine  Song"  which  Krishna 
the  incarnate  God  sang  to  the  warrior  Arjuna  before  the  great 
battle  of  Kurukshetra.  The  Gita  is  the  gospel  of  India,  the 
gospel  of  the  union  of  the  human  soul  with  the  Personal  but 
All-inclusive  God.  It  is  the  crown  of  Indian  religious  literature, 
and  it  is  to  the  great  credit  of  the  cultured  Hindus  that  it  is 
the  most  popular  book  in  India.  And  the  Gita  is  the  very  heart 
of  the  more  philosophical  religion  of  Vishnu  and  of  Krishna. 
Yet  for  even  a  partial  understanding  of  it  one  must  know  some- 
thing of  Indian  philosophy.  Hence  further  consideration  of  it 
must  be  postponed  to  the  next  chapter. 

The  two  great  gods  of  India,  as  I  have  said,  are  Shiva  and 
Vishnu.  But  most  of  the  gods  have  wives,  and  one  of  these 
goddesses  is  of  considerable  importance.  As  a  rule,  to  be  sure, 
an  Indian  goddess  is  only  a  pale  and  almost  impersonal  re- 
flection of  her  husband.  She  is  regarded  usually  as  a  mere  per- 
sonification of  his  shakti,  or  power.  Some  additional  function, 
to  be  sure,  is  occasionally  given  to  a  goddess :  —  thus  Sarasvati, 
the  wife  of  Brahma,  is  the  goddess  of  learning,  and  Lakshmi, 
Vishnu's  beautiful  consort,  is  the  goddess  of  wealth.  But  even 
so,  these  heavenly  ladies  are  of  no  great  importance  and  have 
little  independent  power  or  significance  of  their  own.  Far 
otherwise  is  it,  however,  with  the  wife  of  Shiva.  Shiva  has  but 
one  wife,  but  she  is  a  lady  of  many  names  and  many  natures. 
As  Parvati  or  Uma  she  is  modestly  subject  to  her  husband,  as 
every  Hindu  wife  should  be;  but  as  Kali,  Durga,  or  Devi,  she 
has  a  power  in  heaven  and  a  cult  on  earth  all  her  own.  As  an 
Indian  friend  of  mine  put  it,  she  is  a  kind  of  militant  suffra- 
gette. In  Bengal  —  the  province  in  which  resides  the  largest 
^  Bipin  Chandra  Pal,  The  Soul  of  India,  pp.  315-16. 
60 


THE   MANY   GODS 

proportion  of  cultured  Hindus  —  she  is  the  most  loved  and 
feared  and  worshiped  of  all  the  Heavenly  ones.  And  in  In- 
dia as  a  whole  only  Vishnu  and  Shiva  excel  her  in  popularity 
and  importance. 

Her  cult  is  commonly  known  as  "Shaktism,"  for  it  is  not  so 
much  the  cult  of  a  personal  deity  as  that  of  Nature  as  a  whole, 
regarded  as  the  female  energy,  the  active  force,  of  which  the 
inactive  and  contemplative  Shiva  is  the  counterpart.  In  one 
sense  all  the  goddesses  are  involved  in  Shaktism,  all  the  god- 
desses and  female  spirits  and  even  women,  as  embodiments  of 
das  E-ivig  Weibliche  which  is  the  active  principle  in  things,  and 
of  which  Kali  or  Durga  is  the  personification.  Thus  Kali,  or 
Shakti  as  she  is  also  called,  has  largely  taken  over  the  Nature 
side  of  her  husband  Shiva.  He  is  the  Eternal  Spirit,  the  soul 
of  things,  while  "She  is  the  Force  that  stands  behind  the  evo- 
lution of  the  Universe,  working  out  the  infinite  changes  through 
which  the  Absolute  is  progressively  realizing  Himself  in  the 
cosmic  process."  ^  More  often  still  she  is  for  the  philosopher  the 
personification  of  "Maya,"  the  Great  Illusion,  which  (as  we 
shall  see  in  our  next  chapter)  Brahman  spreads  as  a  veil  be- 
fore our  eyes.  She  is,  in  short,  Nature  or  the  cosmic  process 
which  prevents  us  from  seeing  the  Absolute  and  It  alone.  Thus 
she  is  the  Creator  and  Mother  of  all  finite  and  separate  things, 
the  gods  and  even  Shiva  himself  included.  In  the  Mahanirvana 
Tantra  Shiva  says  to  her:  "Thou  art  the  only  Para  Prakriti 
[material  Nature]  of  the  Supreme  Soul  Brahman,  and  from 
Thee  as  its  Mother  has  sprung  the  whole  universe.  O  gracious 
One!  whatever  there  is  in  this  world,  of  things  that  have  been 
and  are  without  motion,  from  intelligence  to  atom,  owes  its 
origin  to  and  is  dependent  upon  Thee.  Thou  art  the  origin  of 
all  manifestations:  Thou  art  the  birthplace  even  of  us  [Brahma, 
Vishnu,  Shiva].  Thou  knowest  the  whole  world,  yet  none 
know  Thee."  ^ 

Shakti  is  thus  the  personification  of  the  cosmic  Forces,  or 
even  of  Power  in  general.  When  Mazoomdar  returned  from  a 
visit  in  Europe  he  told  Ramakrishna  —  the  devout  worshiper 
of  Kali  —  that  the  philosophers  of  Europe  were  not  atheists, 

^  Bipin  Chandra  Pal,  op.  cit.,  p.  i68. 

2  IV,  IO-I2.  Translation  by  "Arthur  Avalon"  (London,  Luzac,  1913). 

61 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

since  they  believed  in  an  "Eternal  Energy  —  an  unknown 
Power  behind  the  Universe"  —  apparently  referring  to 
Spencer's  "Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy  from  which  all  things 
proceed."  Ramakrishna  jumped  at  this  at  once,  recognizing 
in  the  Spencerian  formula  his  own  Kali.  And  a  recent  writer 
in  the  "Prabuddha  Bharata"  ^  interprets  the  teaching  of 
Nietzsche  as  being  essentially  the  worship  of  Shakti. 

The  way  to  salvation,  then,  is  through  subjection  to  the 
Mother  and  by  uniting  one's  self  with  her.  "Those  who,  through 
spiritual  illumination,  love,  and  devotion,  can  identify  them- 
selves with  the  Universal  Mother,  become  like  Her,  the  lords 
of  birth  and  death.  They  rise  above  the  wheel  of  Karma, 
break  through  the  bondage  of  the  phenomenal,  and  attain  final 
emancipation."  ^ 

This  rather  philosophical  view  of  the  goddess  is,  of  course, 
held  by  the  rank  and  file  of  her  worshipers  only  in  a  very  vague 
fashion.  "For  most  of  them,"  as  an  Indian  philosopher  said 
to  me,  "she  is  the  female  power  manifest  in  Nature,  who,  com- 
bined with  the  male  power  represented  by  Shiva,  makes  the 
totality  of  all  things.  By  these  people  she  is  always  taken  as 
a  person,  and  often  quite  anthropomorphically.  She  is  a  god- 
dess who  brings  earthly  blessings  to  those  who  propitiate  her 
• —  and  who  can  be  terrible  to  her  foes."  One  of  the  priests  at 
the  great  Kali  temple  at  Kalighat,  in  Calcutta,  described  the 
goddess  to  me  as  holding  in  her  two  left  hands  (for  she  has  a 
minimum  of  four  hands  and  a  maximum  of  ten)  a  knife  and  a 
skull,  to  destroy  or  frighten  the  wicked,  while  one  of  her  right 
hands  is  open  for  the  reception  of  offerings  from  the  good,  and 
the  other  is  raised  in  blessing.  She  is  the  symbol  of  Eternity 
or  of  All-devouring  Time.  No  other  Indian  religious  concep- 
tion, he  added,  had  been  so  misrepresented  by  Europeans;  for 
behind  her  cult  and  behind  the  popular  ideas  of  her  there  was 
a  very  profound  and  noble  philosophy.  I  asked  him  what  this 
philosophy  was,  and  he  said  he  did  n't  know  himself,  but  if 
I  would  call  on  Mr.  Bipin  Chandra  Pal  I  could  find  out.^   This 

*  For  January,  1915,  p.  5.  ^  Hindu  Review,  August,  1913,  p.  104. 

'  I  took  the  priest's  advice,  and  excellent  advice  it  proved  to  be.  Mr. 
Bipin  Chandra  Pal  is  not  himself  a  devotee  of  Shakti,  but  he  is  a  student  of 
the  subject,  and  puts  it  in  quite  a  different  light  from  that  which  one  gets 

62 


THE   MANY   GODS 

priest  was  very  typical  of  the  less  intelligent  Indian  devotee. 
There  are  millions  of  men  in  India  who  are  very  zealous  for  the 
good  name  of  their  deity  and  who  are  sure  that  there  is  a  very 
fine  philosophy  back  of  his  cult;  and  though  they  themselves 
have  but  slight  inkling  as  to  what  that  philosophy  may  be, 
they  are  extremely  proud  of  it,  and  can  usually  tell  you  what 
man  to  see  or  what  books  to  read  if  you  wish  to  study  it  for 
yourself. 

There  are  two  aspects  of  Shiva  as  the  power  of  Nature  which 
have  been  almost  entirely  taken  over  by  his  consort :  namely, 
the  mystery  of  reproduction,  and  the  terror  of  destruction  and 
death.  The  erotic  side  of  Shaktism  has  been  appropriated  by 
a  small  branch  of  the  worshipers  of  Kali,  known  as  the  "Left 
Hand  School."  The  sensual  practices  in  which  they  indulge 
in  connection  with  their  religion  may  owe  their  origin  to  some 
primitive  aboriginal  tribe;  but  as  they  exist  to-day  they  have 
been  profoundly  influenced  by  the  philosophy  of  the  school. 
Their  fundamental  idea  is  not  mystic  union  with  the  Deity 
(as  is  the  case  with  the  erotic  school  of  Vaishnavism),  but  the 
acquisition  and  control  of  Power. ^ 

The  conception  of  Kali  as  the  destructive  power  of  Nature, 
the  Frightful  One,  is  much  more  widespread  and  general.  The 
commonest  picture  of  Kali  represents  her  in  a  riot  of  blood  and 
carnage.  Skulls  and  severed  heads  hang  from  her  neck,  her 
tongue,  thirsting  for  more  blood,  protrudes  from  her  mouth, 
and  she  stands  with  one  foot  on  the  prostrate  body  of  her  hus- 
band. For  the  story  goes  that  "when  Kali  was  engaged  in  her 
work  of  destruction,  she  so  completely  forgot  herself  that  she 
did  not  stop  with  the  killing  and  conquest  of  her  enemies,  but 
from  most  books.  The  reader  will  do  well  to  consult  his  Soul  of  India,  from 
which  I  have  several  times  quoted. 

^  According  to  Monier  Williams  some  members  of  the  Left  Hand  School 
even  go  so  far  as  to  indulge  in  promiscuous  intercourse  as  a  part  of  their  cult. 
Farquhar  repeats  the  charge  in  his  recent  Modern  Religious  Movements  in 
India  (New  York,  Macmillan,  1915).  Neither  author  gives  his  authority, 
and  I  do  not  know  how  much  basis  there  is  for  the  assertion.  Mr.  Bipin 
Chandra  Pal  assures  me  that  if  this  practice  ever  existed  it  certainly  exists 
no  longer,  and  that  it  is  altogether  out  of  keeping  with  the  Indian  charac- 
ter. An  instance  quite  parallel  to  it  is  to  be  found  in  an  offshoot  of  the 
Orthodox  Russian  Church,  known  as  the  "Christs."  For  an  account  of 
their  practices  see  N.  Tsakni,  La  Russie  Sectaire,  chap,  iv,  and  Severac, 
La  Secte  Russe  des  Hommes-de-Dieu  (Paris,  Corneley,  1906),  pp.  75-81. 

63 


INDIA   AND   ITS  FAITHS 

threatened  in  her  passion  for  war  and  carnage  to  work  univer- 
sal ruin.  And  it  was  then  that  Shiva,  the  symbol  of  the  Good, 
who  alone  in  all  the  worlds  could  stand  the  passion  of  the  dread 
goddess,  threw  himself  down  at  her  feet,  and  thus  brought  her 
back  to  herself."  ^ 

The  popularity  of  Kali  as  an  object  of  worship  is  thus  in  part 
an  expression  of  the  fascination  of  the  terrible.  Vivekananda 
wrote  of  her :  — 

"Scattering  plague  and  sorrows, 

Dancing  made  with  joy, 

Come,  O  Mother,  come! 

For  Terror  is  Thy  name. 

"Death  is  in  Thy  breath. 
And  every  shaking  step 
Destroys  a  world  for  e'er. 
Who  dares  misery  love 
Dance  in  Destruction's  dance 
And  hug  the  form  of  Death  — 
To  him  the  Mother  comes."  ^ 

This  gifted  Bengalee  mystic,  with  all  his  knowledge  of  the 
West  and  of  the  East,  was  quite  as  devoted  to  Kali  as  he  was 
to  Shiva.  And  it  seems  to  have  been  her  terrible  aspect  that 
most  attracted  him.  He  insisted  upon  seeing  God  every^where, 
in  the  evil  as  well  as  in  the  good;  hence  a  cult  which  deified 
even  the  dreadful  had  for  him  an  especial  appeal.  "His  own 
effort,"  writes  Sister  Nivedita,  "being  constantly  to  banish 
fear  and  weakness  from  his  own  consciousness  and  to  learn 
to  recognize  the  Mother  as  instinctively  in  evil,  terror,  sor- 
row, and  annihilation,  as  in  that  which  makes  for  sweetness 
and  joy,  it  followed  that  the  one  thing  he  could  not  away 
with  was  any  sort  of  watering  down  of  the  great  conception. 
*  Fools, '  he  exclaimed  once  —  as  he  dwelt  in  quiet  talk  on  the 
worship  of  the  Terrible,  on  becoming  one  with  the  Terrible  — 
'Fools!  they  put  a  garland  of  flowers  round  Thy  neck  and  call 
Thee  the  Merciful.'  .  .  .  One  saw  that  the  true  attitude  of  the 
mind  and  will  which  are  not  to  be  baffled  by  the  personal 
self,  was  in  fact  the  determination,  in  the  stern  words  of  the 
Swami  Vivekananda,  *  to  seek  death  not  life,  to  hurl  one's  self 

^  Bipin  Chandra  Pal,  op.  cii.,  p.  173. 

^  Quoted  by  Sister  Nivedita  in  The  Master  as  I  Saw  Him. 

64 


THE   MANY  GODS 

upon  the  sword's  point,  to  become  one  with  the  Terrible  for- 
evermore.'"  ^ 

Not  all  of  KaH's  worshipers  desire  to  become  one  with  the 
Terrible.  And  yet  the  fascination  of  her  more  dreadful  aspect 
is  widespread,  and  is  reflected  in  the  bloody  offerings  in  her 
temples.  The  Hindu  feels  that  the  weekly  sacrifice  of  goats  to 
this  goddess  of  Death  is  only  fitting.  When  Sister  Nivedita 
mildly  protested  against  it  to  Swami  Vivekananda,  he  replied, 
"Why  not  a  little  blood  to  complete  the  picture?" 

And  yet  Kali  has  her  more  tender  aspect;  and,  strange  as  it 
must  seem  to  us,  this  Terrible  One  is  throughout  Bengal  not  only 
feared  but  loved  and  is  spoken  of  as  "The  Mother."  Rama- 
krishna,  one  of  the  most  saintly  mystics  that  India  produced  in 
the  last  century,  worshiped  her  with  a  passionate  adoration 
of  which  we  Westerners  apparently  can  form  but  a  dim  con- 
ception. His  relation  to  her,  in  vision  and  in  trance,  was  strik- 
ingly similar  to  that  of  many  a  Christian  mystic  to  the  Ma- 
donna. It  was  of  her  that  he  talked,  it  was  her  teaching,  so  he 
was  persuaded,  and  not  his  own  that  he  gave  his  disciples. 
"After  the  regular  forms  of  worship  [in  the  temple  of  Kali] 
he  would  sit  there  for  hours  and  hours,  singing  hymns  and 
talking  and  praying  to  her  as  a  child  to  his  mother,  till  he 
lost  all  consciousness  of  the  outer  world.  Sometimes  he  would 
weep  for  hours  and  would  not  be  comforted,  because  he  could 
not  see  his  Mother  as  perfectly  as  he  wished."  ^  He  felt  him- 
self a  little  child  in  her  great  arms,  and  in  every  religion  not 
his  own  he  saw  the  worship  of  the  Divine  Mother  in  disguise. 
This  feeling  for  Kali,  as  a  name  for  the  Motherhood  of  God,  was 
caught  by  many  of  his  disciples.    Vivekananda,  his  favorite 

1  The  Master  as  I  Saw  Him,  pp.  209-10.  We  may  wonder  at  this  belief  in 
the  terrible  side  of  God:  yet  one  need  not  go  far  to  find  in  the  God  of  many 
good  Christians  a  great  deal  of  the  Kali  nature.  The  Old  Testament,  of 
course,  is  full  of  it,  as  is  also  much  of  Puritanism.  "  It  is  a  dreadful  thing  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  In  Dr.  Clough's  recent  book  con- 
cerning his  mission  to  the  Telugus  I  find  a  description  of  a  terrific  cyclone 
which  wrecked  most  of  the  mission  property  and  wrought  tremendous  havoc 
to  the  entire  district;  and  after  the  description  the  following  comment: 
"  I  wondered  what  all  this  meant.  I  wrote  to  Boston  that  I  thought  that  our 
God  means  to  show  what  He  is  able  to  do  —  to  build  up  here  among  the 
heathen,  and  then  how  easily  He  can  undo  all."  —  Is  not  this  Kali? 

2  Max  Muller,  Ramakrishna:  His  Life  and  Sayings  (London,  Longmans, 
1910),  p.  36. 

65 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

pupil,  years  afterwards  said,  "How  I  used  to  hate  Kali!  and 
all  Her  ways!  That  was  the  ground  of  my  six  years'  fight  — 
that  I  would  not  accept  Her.  But  I  had  to  accept  Her  at  last. 
Ramakrishna  Paramahamsa  dedicated  me  to  Her,  and  now  I 
believe  that  She  guides  me  in  every  little  thing  that  I  do,  and 
does  with  me  what  She  will!"  And  at  another  time  he  said 
that  wherever  he  turned  he  was  conscious  of  the  presence  of 
the  Mother  as  if  she  were  a  person  in  the  room.^ 

Nor  is  this  feeling  for  Durga  or  Kali  as  the  Divine  and  Uni- 
versal Mother  confined  to  men  like  Ramakrishna  and  Vive- 
kananda.  Many  and  many  a  Bengalee  of  limited  intelligence 
and  education  looks  up  to  this  strange  Being,  in  whom  we 
outsiders  see  only  the  grotesque  or  the  abominable,  and  they 
find  in  her  at  least  some  of  the  supernatural  comfort  for  which 
we  all  at  times  have  so  great  a  need.  Listen,  for  instance,  to 
this  passage  from  the  farewell  letter  of  a  Calcutta  girl  who 
was  about  to  commit  suicide  to  save  her  father  from  finan- 
cial ruin:  — 

"Last  night  I  dreamt  a  dream,  father,  which  made  me  take 
my  vow.  To  the  enthralling  strains  of  a  music  unheard  before, 
and  amid  a  blaze  of  light  as  never  was  on  land  or  sea,  I  saw 
the  Divine  Mother  Durga,  with  benignant  smile,  beckoning 
me  to  the  abode  of  the  blest  up  above,  and  then  I  thought  of 
you,  father,  of  the  ever  sorrow-laden  face  of  my  beloved  mother 
and  of  the  dear  little  ones  who  have  done  so  much  to  brighten 
our  home.  And  then  J  resolved  to  save  you  all  and  made  a 
sign  to  the  Divine  Mother  that  I  would  not  delay  obeying 
her  merciful  call.  .  .  .  And  now,  dear  father,  farewell.  The  hour 
of  sacrifice  is  come.  All  nature  is  slumbering  peacefully 
and  ere  long  I  am  going  to  fall  into  that  sleep  which  knows  no 
waking.  A  strange  and  sweet  sensation  overpowers  me.  Up 
above  in  my  new  home,  at  the  lotus  feet  of  the  Divine  Mother 
and  lying  within  the  light  of  uncreated  rays,  as  I  used  to  lie 
upon  your  loving  breast,  I  have  only  to  wait  a  little  while  till 
you  and  mother  come!"  ^ 

1  Sister  Nivedita,  op.  ciL,  pp.  214  and  162. 

"^  For  a  further  account  of  this  heroic  girl,  see  p.  176.  Her  farewell  letter 
was,  of  course,  written  in  Hindi,  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  translator  has 
taken  considerable  liberties  with  the  original.  The  references  to  Durga,  how- 

66 


THE   MANY   GODS 

I  have  devoted  many  pages  to  Shiva,  Vishnu,  and  Kali,  be- 
cause these  are  the  great  deities  of  Hinduism.  The  "Hindu 
Trinity,"  to  be  sure,  of  which  we  in  the  West  hear  a  good  deal, 
—  the  "Trimurti"  as  the  Indians  call  it,  —  consists  of  Brah- 
ma, Vishnu,  and  Shiva,  regarded  respectively  as  the  Creator, 
Preser\-er,  and  Destroyer.  But  one  hears  but  little  of  the 
Trimurti  in  India  to-day  except  as  a  matter  of  ancient  tra- 
dition or  theological  theory.  It  is  not  a  living  part  of  the  reli- 
gion of  the  people.  Brahma  is  an  antiquated  deity  who  really 
went  out  of  business  long  ago,  and  has  been  retired  on  a  pen- 
sion of  purely  verbal  honor  these  many  centuries.  He  has  no 
cult  of  his  own.^  The  only  gods  that  have  special  cults  are  the 
three  we  have  studied  (including  under  Vishnu  his  incarna- 
tions) and  two  others  —  Ganesh  and  Surya.  Ganesh  is  the 
elephant-headed  eldest  son  of  Shiva.  He  is  the  god  of  good 
luck  and  also  of  wisdom,  and  has  rather  a  wide  cult  which 
to-day  is  growing  with  considerable  rapidity.  According  to 
Mr.  Murdoch,  "  there  is  no  god  more  frequently  invoked  in 
India  than  Ganesh.  Being  looked  upon  as  the  remover  of 
obstacles,  his  assistance  is  considered  necessary  in  every  under- 
taking. .  .  .  Many  persons  never  commence  a  letter  without 
praying  to  Ganesh."  ^  His  image  is  one  of  the  most  familiar 
in  India,  for  not  only  is  it  in  a  large  proportion  of  Hindu  temples 
and  even  in  some  temples  of  the  Jainas  and  Sikhs,  but  one  finds 
it  in  many  a  private  dwelling,  on  the  outside  or  inside  —  just 
as  with  us  one  nails  a  horseshoe  over  the  door  for  good  luck, 
or  puts  on  one's  bookshelves  a  carved  owl  as  a  symbol  of 
learning. 

Surya  is  an  old  Vedic  sun  god,  and  though  he  has  hardly 
any  temples  of  his  own,  it  is  to  him  that  every  good  Hindu 
prays  at  least  once  a  day  when  he  repeats  the  Gayatri  —  the 
prayer  or  invocation  which  to  the  Hindu  is  as  sacred  as  the 
Pater  Noster  is  to  us. 

These,  then,  are  the  chief  gods  of  modern  India.  But  they 
are  far  from  the  only  ones.  In  the  times  of  the  Rig  Veda  it  was 

ever,  are  none  the  less  significant  of  the  general  and  popular  feeling  in  Ben- 
gal for  her. 

^  Not  absolutely  exact.  He  has  two  temples,  both  in  Rajputana. 

*  Siva  Bhaklt,  p.  26. 

67 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

said  that  the  gods  were  thirty- three  in  number ;  and  since  that 
time  the  Brahmins  have  multipHed  their  deities  by  an  even 
million.  And,  indeed,  if  one  should  start  to  count  up  the  gods 
of  village  and  forest  and  mountain  and  stream,  the  tree  spirits 
and  the  water  spirits  and  the  spirits  of  the  deified  dead,  he 
would  probably  not  be  tempted  long  to  contest  the  official 
figures  of  33,000,000.^  Yet  the  assertion  that  Hindus  believe 
in  33,000,000  gods  is  likely  to  be  extremely  misleading  if  we 
simply  leave  it  without  further  comment.  The  Hindu  pantheon 
is  a  ver>'  different  thing  from  the  Greek  pantheon.  I  hope  my 
description  of  Shiva,  Vishnu,  and  Kali  has  shown  how  very 
unstable  and  shadowy  are  the  natures  of  the  Hindu  deities; 
but  any  description,  just  because  it  seeks  to  describe,  is  bound 
to  make  the  Hindu  concept  seem  more  clear  and  sharp  than 
it  really  is.  Zeus  and  Hermes  and  Aphrodite  were  personalities 
with  characteristics  quite  as  distinct  as  Agamemnon  and 
Achilles.  When  we  turn  to  India  all  this  is  changed.  The  In- 
dians have  always  been  noted  for  a  weak  sense  of  personality, 
both  in  reference  to  themselves  and  in  reference  to  their  gods. 
Personality  seems  to  them  limitation  —  something  to  be  out- 
grown if  possible.  Hence  their  gods  are  always  on  the  verge 
of  melting  into  each  other.  They  form  one  whole,  a  divine 
world,  rather  than  an  Olympian  assembly  of  personages. 

To  counterbalance  this  loss  of  personality,  the  Hindu  deities 
have  a  large  symbolism,  a  kind  of  cosmic  quality,  which  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  and  some  even  of  the  Christian  concepts 
of  the  Divine  quite  lack.  Compare,  for  instance,  Kali  with  the 
Madonna.  The  pictures  of  Kali  are  certainly  horrible,  —  they 
are  meant  to  be,  —  while  the  Madonna  represents  the  supreme 
beauty  of  womanhood  —  motherhood  and  virginity  miracu- 
lously combined.  And  yet  there  is  something  in  the  red-handed 
Kali,  gloating  over  her  slaughter,  which  (in  part  just  because 
she  is  less  personal)  suggests  the  universal,  symbolic,  cosmic, 
in  a  way  that  the  greatest  paintings  of  the  Virgin  never  do. 
The  Madonna  is  a  person;  Kali  is  a  Nature  Force. 

^  For  a  large  proportion  of  the  Indians  these  devatas,  or  "godlings,"are 
very  much  more  important  than'  the  great  gods,  or  devas,  described  in 
this  chapter.  Perhaps  the  best  treatment  of  these  devatas  is  in  Crooke's 
Popular  Religion  arid  Folklore  of  India  (Allahabad,  Government  Press, 
1894). 

68 


THE   MANY    GODS 

Largely  as  a  result  of  this  cosmic  quality  of  the  Hindu  gods 
they  are  notably  lacking  in  moral  characteristics.  They  have 
caught  from  Nature,  or  from  the  impersonal  power  back  of 
Nature,  a  complete  indifference  to  moral  questions.  They  are 
bringers  of  good  —  yes,  but  they  are  also  bringers  of  evil.  To 
attribute  a  moral  nature  to  the  Divine  would  be  in  Indian 
eyes  a  belittling  of  it.  As  we  shall  see  later  on,  there  is,  in- 
deed, one  sense  in  which  the  universe  as  a  whole  is  supremely 
moral  —  in  that  good  and  evil  inevitably  and  automatically 
work  out  their  own  retribution.  But  the  gods  have  nothing 
to  do  with  this,  and  so  far  as  they  have  personalities  of  their 
own  they  are  conceived  as  capable  of  doing  things  which  in 
men  would  be  morally  contemptible,  because  in  the  Hindu 
conception  the  gods  simply  are  not  subject  to  the  moral  cate- 
gory\  They  SLTejenseits  von  Gut  und  Bose.  And  this  non-moral 
character  of  the  gods  results  in  certain  positively  immoral  ele- 
ments in  their  worship.   To  quote  from  Farquhar:  — 

"The  great  temple-gateways  of  South  India  known  as 
'gopurams '  and  the  temple  towers  of  Central  India  are  in  many 
cases  covered  with  sculpture  of  indescribable  obscenity :  while 
here  and  there  the  internal  walls  and  ceiling  are  frescoed  with 
bestiality  —  frescoes  representing  the  pleasures  of  Vishnu's 
heaven.  The  car  on  which  the  god  rides  on  great  festival  days  is 
also  frequently  defiled  with  obscene  carvings.  To  this  day 
troops  of  dancing  girls  who  are  called  'devadavis,'  servants  of 
the  god,  and  who  now  and  then  do  take  part  in  the  ritual,  but 
whose  real  occupation  is  prostitution,  are  connected  with  most 
of  the  great  temples  of  the  South  and  West  and  do  immeasur- 
able harm.  Women  scour  the  country  and  adopt  or  buy  little 
girls  to  bring  them  up  for  this  infamous  life.  .  .  .  The  extraordi- 
nary thing  is  that  the  obscene  sculptures,  the  foul  frescoes,  the 
dancing-girls,  and  the  offensive  symbols  are  found,  not  in 
private  buildings,  but  in  the  temples,  the  high  places  made 
holy  by  the  presence  of  the  gods.  The  inevitable  conclusion  is 
that  neither  Vishnu  nor  Shiva  has  ever  been  regarded  as  hav- 
ing such  a  character  as  would  be  shocked  by  such  things."  ^ 

»  Crown  of  Hinduism,  p.  397-  Dr.  Jones,  for  many  years  connected 
\inth  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Pasumali,  near  Madura,  assures  me 
that  the  practice  of  keeping  professional  dancing  girls  and  religious  pros- 

69 


INDIA  AND  ITS   FAITHS 

The  degree  to  which  the  gods  are  conceived  as  persons  will, 
of  course,  vary  from  worshiper  to  worshiper ;  and  especially 
among  the  more  ignorant  one  will  hear  the  gods  described 
as  distinct  persons  without  qualification.  My  acquaintance 
in  the  temple  at  Delhi  told  me  that  Shiva  was  a  real  person, 
dwelling  in  heaven  in  a  form  much  like  that  of  his  image  in 
the  temple  —  though  he  could  take  other  forms  if  he  chose. 
Vishnu,  he  said,  was  another  person  quite  distinct  from 
Shiva,  and  the  two  were  great  friends,  and  in  fact  worshiped 
each  other.  Though  I  gave  this  man  every  chance  to  say  it, 
there  was  no  suggestion  in  his  conversation  that  these  divini- 
ties were  forms  and  aspects  of  each  other  or  of  the  One  God. 

Yet  if  I  had  asked  him  if  there  were  many  gods  or  one,  he 
would  probably  have  answered  that  either  statement  would  be 
true.  That,  at  any  rate,  is  the  kind  of  response  one  usually 
gets  in  India  to  such  a  question.  There  are  many  gods  —  yes; 
but  there  is  also  but  one  God.  We  should  probably  under- 
stand the  Hindu  position  better  if  we  did  not  use  the  word 
"god"  at  all  in  reference  to  the  many  deities,  but  called  them, 
as  the  Indians  do,  devas,  or  "shining  ones."  The  many  devas 
are  as  consistent  with  a  fundamental  monotheism  as  are  the 
many  angels  of  Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Islam.  And  the 
educated  Hindu  will  tell  you  either  that  the  devas,  Vishnu  and 
the  rest,  are  aspects  or  names  for  the  One  God,  or  that  they 
are  beings  higher  in  the  scale  than  you  and  I,  but  subject  to 
birth  and  death  as  we  are,  and  infinitely  inferior  to  the  Ab- 
solute One,  Who  is  All-in-All. 

The  zealous  Shaivites  maintain  that  there  is  but  one  God 
and  that  He  is  Shiva;  and  that  it  is  quite  proper  to  worship 
Vishnu,  since  Vishnu  is  but  a  name  for  Shiva:  while  the  Vaish- 
navites  maintain  the  same  liberal  position,  mutatis  mutandis^ 
quoting  Vishnu's  words  in  the  Gita:  "Even  those  who  wor- 

titutes  at  the  temples  is  on  the  wane,  and  that  for  a  number  of  years  the 
great  temple  at  Madura  has  had  none  at  all  —  having  to  borrow  from 
neighboring  temples  for  great  occasions.  The  obscene  carving  on  the 
temples  is  certainly  bad  enough,  but  it  is  not  peculiar  to  India.  Gothic  and 
Renaissance  sculptors  occasionally  decorated  Christian  cathedrals  and 
monastic  buildings  in  similar  fashion,  —  though  much  less  profusely;  as 
may  be  seen  by  a  close  examination  of  the  carvings  of  Notre  Dame  and 
the  H6tel  de  Cluny  in  Paris. 

70 


I 


THE   MANY   GODS 

ship  other  gods,  if  full  of  faith,  in  reality  worship  Me,  though 
not  according  to  ordinance."  ^ 

Some  members  of  the  great  sects  take  even  a  more  liberal 
position  than  this,  and  do  not  even  insist  that  their  name  for 
the  One  God  is  the  right  name.  Thus  a  Vishnu  worshiper  said 
to  me:  "The  religion  of  Vishnu  to  the  more  enlightened  means 
love.  Vishnu  essentially  is  love.  And  yet,  after  all,  Vishnu  is 
but  a  name  or  manifestation  of  the  One  God,  who  is  the  One 
Power  of  the  Universe."  It  was  noticeable  that  this  man  al- 
ways referred  to  God,  not  as  He,  but  as  It.  Later  on,  he  pointed 
out  to  me  a  man  with  the  Shiva  marks  on  his  forehead.  "The 
difference  between  that  man  and  me,"  said  my  Vaishnavite 
acquaintance,  "  is  not  that  we  have  different  gods.  The  dif- 
ference is  largely  a  matter  of  words  —  he  calls  God  Shiva  and 
singles  out  certain  aspects  as  of  special  importance;  I  call  It 
Vishnu  and  emphasize  certain  other  aspects.  But  it  is  really 
the  same  God  that  we  worship,  and  this  One  God  possesses 
all  the  aspects." 

Another  Hindu  explained  the  matter  to  me  in  this  fashion: 
"As  ten  people  observing  a  rose  will  see  ten  different  things, 
each  separating  out  that  aspect  of  the  rose  which  interests  him 
most,  so  of  God.  You  ask  how  many  gods  there  are?  There  are 
in  fact,  subjectively  considered,  as  many  gods  as  worshipers. 
Each  of  us  has  his  own  God.  But  it  is  the  One  God  who  has 
these  many  forms.  He  has,  in  fact,  an  infinite  number  of  forms 
because  He  is  infinite.  Each  of  us  is  a  form  of  God.  But  some  of 
us  represent  more  of  Him  than  others  do  —  just  as  the  white 
light  of  a  lamp  shines  through  a  clean  and  uncolored  chimney 
better  than  through  a  clouded  one." 

Here  we  are,  indeed,  on  the  very  verge  of  philosophy;  But 
Hinduism  is  ever  on  the  vei^e  of  philosophy,  when  not  in  fact 
plunged  into  the  ver>'  midst  of  it.  The  philosophy  of  Hin- 
duism is  difficult  and  highly  abstruse ;  but  a  surprisingly  large 
number  of  uncultured  Hindus  know  at  least  the  two  great  se- 
crets with  which  this  philosophy  begins  and  ends:  There  is  One 
Absolute  Spirit,  manifesting  Itself  in  many  forms;  and  some- 
how or  other,  you  and  I  and  the  rest  of  us  finite  beings  are 
very  closely  related  to  the  Infinite  One. 
*  IX,  23. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    ONE   GOD 

ABOUT  seven  or  eight  hundred  years  before  Christ  there 
lived  a  boy  named  Sveteketu.  When  he  was  twelve 
years  old  (as  the  Chandogya  Upanishad  tells  us),  his  father 
said  to  him:  — 

'"Sveteketu,  go  to  school;  for  there  is  none  belonging  to 
our  race,  darling,  who  not  having  studied  the  Veda  is,  as  it 
were,  a  Brahmin  by  birth  dnly.' 

"Having  begun  his  apprenticeship  with  a  teacher  when  he 
was  twelve  years  of  age,  Sveteketu  returned  to  his  father 
when  he  was  twenty-four,  having  then  studied  all  the  Vedas, 
conceited,  considering  himself  well-read,  and  stern. 

"His  father  said  to  him,  'Sveteketu,  as  you  are  so  conceited, 
considering  yourself  so  well-read,  and  so  stern,  my  dear,  have 
you  ever  asked  for  that  instruction  by  which  we  hear  what 
cannot  be  heard,  by  which  we  perceive  what  cannot  be  per- 
ceived, by  which  we  know  what  cannot  be  known?' 

"The  son  said:  'Surely  those  venerable  men,  my  teachers, 
did  not  know  that.  For  if  they  had  known  it,  why  should  they 
not  have  told  me?  Do  yoa,  sir,  therefore,  tell  me  that,' 

"'Be  it  so,'  said  the  father.  'If  some  one  were  to  strike  at 
the  root  of  this  large  tree,  it  would  bleed  but  live.  If  he  were 
to  strike  at  its  stem,  it  would  bleed  but  live.  If  he  were  to 
strike  at  its  top,  it  would  bleed  but  live.  Pervaded  by  the  liv- 
ing Self,  that  tree  stands  firm,  drinking  in  its  nourishment  and 
rejoicing.  But  if  the  living  Self  leaves  one  of  its  branches,  that 
branch  withers;  if  it  leaves  a  second,  that  branch  withers;  if 
it  leaves  a  third,  that  branch  withers.  If  it  leaves  the  whole 
tree,  the  whole  tree  withers.  In  exactly  the  same  manner, 
my  son,  know  this.'  Thus  he  spake:  'This  body,  indeed, 
withers  and  dies  when  the  Self  has  left  it ;  the  living  Self  dies 
not.  That  which  is  the  subtile  essence,  in  it  all  that  exists 
72 


THE  ONE  GOD 

has  its  self.  It  is  the  True.  It  is  the  Self.  And,  oh,  Sveteketu, 
that  art  thou.'  "  ^ 

The  books  which  Sveteketu  had  studied  in  his  twelve  years 
schooling  were  chiefly  the  hymns  or  verses  of  the  Veda,  and 
some  long  treatises  on  the  sacrifice  known  as  Brahmanas. 
These  various  books  —  the  oldest  writings  of  the  Aryan  race 

—  had  taught  him  that  there  were  many  gods  of  many  names, 

—  gods  of  sun  and  sky,  of  storm  and  fire,  and  gods  of  abstract 
powers  and  indefinite  functions.  The  stories  about  these  gods 
and  the  worship  of  them  had  been  elaborated  and  systematized, 
and  centuries  of  speculation  had  added  their  learned  weight 
of  exegesis  and  explanation;  so  that  for  even  a  bright  boy 
like  Sveteketu  twelve  years  of  hard  study  were  required  to 
master  it  all.  But  about  Sveteketu's  time  a  new  conception 
had  dawned  upon  some  of  the  thinkers  of  India;  a  conception 
which  was  destined  to  be  the  heart  of  Indian  philosophy  and 
the  inspiration  of  Indian  religion  throughout  all  subsequent 
centuries.  This  new  idea  was  the  conception  of  a  Single  Power 
back  of  the  many  powers,  a  Divine  Essence  back  of  the  many 
divinities,  which  should  be,  not  an  addition  to  the  already 
overflowing  pantheon,  but  the  inner  Self  of  all  things,  by  vir- 
tue of  which  gods,  men,  and  the  material  world  are  what  they 
are,  and  in  which  all  things  live  and  move  and  have  their  be- 
ing. And  this  subtile  essence  of  all  things  —  here  was  the  great 
secret  —  this  Universal  Self  which  blooms  in  every  flower  and 
breathes  through  every  storm,  is  identical  with  the  self  of  each 
one  of  us.  "Now  that  light  which  shines  above  this  heaven, 
higher  than  all,  higher  than  everything,  in  the  highest  world, 
beyond  which  there  are  no  other  worlds,  that  is  the  same 
light  which  is  within  man."  ^ 

"It  fills  me  with  great  joy  and  a  high  hope  for  the  future  of 
humanity,"  writes  Tagore,  "when  I  realize  that  there  was  a 
time  in  the  remote  past  when  our  poet-prophets  stood  under 
the  lavish  sunshine  of  an  Indian  sky  and  greeted  the  world 
with  the  glad  recognition  of  kindred.    It  was  not  seeing  man 

*  Chand.  Up.  vi,  i  and  ii.  —  In  quoting  from  the  Upanishads  I  have 
made  use  of  Max  Miiller's  version  in  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East  (vol.  I. 
of  the  American  Edition;  New  York,  Christian  Lit.  Co.,  1897),  and  Pro- 
fessor Deussen's  Sechzig  Upanishads  des  Veda  (Leipzig,  Brockhaus,  1905). 

2  Chand.  Up.  m,  13,  7. 

73 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

reflected  everywhere  in  grotesquely  exaggerated  images,  and 
witnessing  the  human  drama  acted  on  a  gigantic  scale  in  na- 
ture's arena  of  flitting  lights  and  shadows.  On  the  contrary, 
it  meant  crossing  the  limiting  barriers  of  the  individual,  to 
become  more  than  man,  to  become  one  with  the  All.  It  was  not 
a  mere  play  of  the  imagination,  but  it  was  the  liberation  of 
consciousness  from  all  the  mystifications  and  exaggerations 
of  the  self.  These  ancient  seers  felt  in  the  serene  depth  of  their 
mind  that  the  same  energy  which  vibrates  and  passes  into  the 
endless  forms  of  the  world  manifests  itself  in  our  inner  being 
as  consciousness;  and  there  is  no  break  in  unity.  For  these 
seers  there  was  no  gap  in  their  luminous  vision  of  perfec- 
tion." ^ 

Again  and  again  in  the  Upanishads  is  this  great  thought  re- 
iterated. "  This  Universe  is  Brahman.  The  intelligent  whose 
body  is  spirit,  whose  form  is  light,  whose  thoughts  are  true,  from 
whom  all  works,  all  desires,  all  sweet  odours  and  tastes  pro- 
ceed ;  he  who  embraces  all  this,  who  never  speaks  and  is  never 
surprised,  he  is  myself  within  the  heart,  smaller  than  a  corn 
of  rice,  smaller  than  a  canary  seed  or  the  kernel  of  a  canary 
seed.  He  also  is  myself  within  the  heart,  greater  than  the 
earth,  greater  than  the  sky,  greater  than  the  heaven,  greater 
than  all  these  worlds.  The  all-worker,  the  all-desirer,  the  all- 
embracer,  he  is  myself  within  the  heart,  he  is  that  Brahman. 
He  who  has  this  faith  has  no  doubt.  Thus  spake  Shandilya, 
Shandilya."  ^ 

Brahman,  then,  as  the  Upanishads  name  the  Supreme  Ab- 
solute, is  the  true  inner  being  of  all  things.  Yet  It  is  not  a 
collection,  not  the  sum  total  of  all  things,  but  the  inner  unity 
which  appears  in  all  these  varying  forms.  Its  unity  is  of  the 
most  absolute  sort,  excluding  in  Its  inmost  Self  all  variety, 
though  manifesting  Itself  in  many  ways.  "There  is  one  ruler, 
the  Self,  within  all  things,  who  makes  the  one  form  manifold. 
The  wise  who  perceive  Him  within  their  self,  to  them  belongs 
eternal  happiness,  not  to  others.  There  is  one  eternal  thinker 
thinking  non-eternal  thoughts  who,  though  One,  fulfills  the 
desires  of  many."  ' 

^  Sadhana  (London,  Macmillan,  1913),  pp.  20-21. 
2  Chand.  Up.  ni,  14.         ^  Katha  Up.  n,  5,  12-13. 

74 


THE   ONE   GOD 

Brahman  is  in  one  sense  the  Creator  of  the  World,  but  not 
after  the  fashion  of  Jehovah.  He  —  or  It,  one  hardly  knows 
which  pronoun  to  use  —  He  is  both  its  efficient  cause  and  its 
material  cause.  All  things  come  from  Brahman  as  their  source. 
They  come  from  Him,  we  say,  yet  they  do  not  come  away  from 
Him.  For  Brahman  is  eternally  immanent  in  them  all  just  as 
the  clay  from  which  a  thousand  pots  were  made  is  ever  present 
in  them.  Yet  this  figure  must  not  be  pressed  too  hard;  for 
Brahman  is  not  to  be  taken  as  merely  identical  with  the  world. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  between  identifying  God  with  the 
world  and  identifying  the  world  with  God.  The  Upanishads 
do  the  latter :  they  interpret  the  material  world  in  divine  terms. 
Pantheism  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the  word  does  the  former :  it 
interprets  the  Divine  in  material  terms,  making  God  merely  the 
sum  of  all  things  that  are  —  no  matter  what  they  are  —  or  per- 
haps only  another  name  for  the  totality  of  laws.  Of  this  sort 
of  pantheism  there  is  none,  or  next  to  none,  in  the  Upanishads. 
Brahman  is  immanent  in  the  world,  yes;  He  is  in  one  sense  iden- 
tical with  the  w^orld,  yes;  but  in  such  a  sense  that  the  world 
must  be  ultimately  interpreted  by  means  of  Him,  that  is  to 
say  in  spiritual  rather  than  in  materialistic  terms.  We  know 
the  world  through  knowing  God,  not  vice  versa.  And  so  far  is 
Brahman  from  being  lost  in  the  world  that  the  world  is  very 
nearly  lost  in  Him.  From  the  time  of  the  Upanishads  on,  the 
essential  worthlessness  of  the  world  is  one  of  the  fundamentals 
of  Indian  religious  thought. 

If  in  the  Upanishads  the  world  is  ever  on  the  verge  of  being 
lost  in  Brahman,  the  human  soul  is  far  from  escaping  that  dan- 
ger. The  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  the  soul  with  God,  if  carried 
to  its  logical  conclusion,  would  seem  to  leave  but  little  indi- 
viduality and  independence  to  the  finite  member  of  the  part- 
nership. The  soul  w^ould  seem,  in  the  words  of  a  Christian 
mystic,  to  be  "drowned  in  the  boundless  Sea."  "•  And  yet  he 
who  objects  to  being  altogether  lost  in  the  Absolute  and  de- 
sires enough  distinction  between  himself  and  the  Divine  to 
permit  of  his  saying,  "  I  am  I,"  will  find  many  a  passage  in  the 
Upanishads,  particularly  in  the  later  ones,  for  his  comfort. 

1  Tauler.  See  Preger's  Deutsche  Mystik  (Leipzig,  Doerffling  and  Franke, 
1893),  vol.  HI,  p.  219. 

75 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

For  the  Upanishads,  like  the  Bible,  are  not  troubled  with  con- 
sistency and  logic.  Their  aim  is  not  to  expound  a  system  of 
philosophy,  but  to  give  poetic  expression  to  religious  intu- 
itions. 

Yet  one  must  add  at  once  that  the  Upanishads  are  full  of 
genuinely  philosophical  insight.  They  were  the  result  of  real 
philosophical  discussion  and  logical  thought;  only  the  conclu- 
sions to  which  the  various  thinkers  came  were  not  fully  car- 
ried out  and  not  fully  correlated  with  each  other.  But  these 
ancient  philosophers  saw  clearly  that  such  an  Absolute  as  they 
had  conceived  must  necessarily  be  in  most  ways  unknowable. 
Knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  knowledge  of  this  world, — 
scientific  and  historical  knowledge  as  we  should  say,  —  all  this 
is  a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help  in  knowing  God.  And  the 
reason  for  this  is  plainly  seen  by  the  writers  of  the  Upanishads 
—  namely  the  fact  that  since  Brahman  is  conceived  as  the 
Universal  Subject,  He  can,  by  his  very  nature,  never  be  an 
object  of  knowledge.  This  unknowability  of  Brahman  is 
exactly  on  a  par  with  the  unknowability  of  the  human  self  — 
in  fact,  it  is  the  same  thing,  since  the  two  selves  are  one.  As 
the  eye  cannot  see  itself,  so  the  self,  whether  human  or  divine, 
being  eternally  a  subject  and  a  subject  only,  can  never  make 
itself  into  an  object.  It  is  not  a  thing  —  like  tables  and  chairs 
and  scientific  propositions.  The  self  is  sui  generis  and  is  simply 
not  in  the  category  of  things  that  are  to  be  investigated,  tabu- 
lated, and  described.  And  doubly  impossible  must  it  be  to 
know  the  Universal  Self  who  is  identical  with  all  that  is,  so  that 
in  all  the  universe  there  is  no  other,  no  being  that  is  not  He. 
This  is  the  profound  reason  —  so  the  ancient  seers  of  India 
would  assure  us  —  that  we  cannot  by  searching  find  out  God 
or  know  the  Almighty  unto  perfection.  "For  when  there  is 
as  it  were  duality,  then  one  sees  the  other,  one  hears  the 
other,  one  perceives  the  other,  one  knows  the  other;  but  when 
the  Self  only  is  all  this,  how  should  he  see  another,  how  should 
he  hear  another,  how  should  he  perceive  another,  how  should 
he  know  another?  How  should  he  know  Him  by  whom  he 
knows  all  this?  That  self  is  to  be  described  by  No,  No!  He 
is  incomprehensible,  for  He  cannot  be  comprehended;  He  is 
imperishable,  for  He  cannot  perish;  unfettered.  He  does  not 
76 


THE   ONE  GOD 

suffer,  He  does  not  fail.  How,  O  beloved,  should  one  know  the 
Knower?"  ^ 

"He  who  dwells  in  the  darkness  and  within  the  darkness, 
whom  the  darkness  does  not  know,  whose  body  the  darkness 
is,  and  who  rules  the  darkness  within,  he  is  thy  Self,  the  ruler 
within,  the  immortal. 

"He  who  dwells  in  the  light  and  within  the  light,  whom  the 
light  does  not  know,  whose  body  the  light  is,  and  who  rules 
the  light  within,  he  is  thy  Self,  the  ruler  within,  the  immortal. 

"He  who  dwells  in  all  beings  and  within  all  beings,  whom  all 
beings  do  not  know,  whose  body  all  beings  are  and  who  rules 
all  beings  within,  he  is  thy  Self,  the  ruler  within,  the  immortal. 
Unseen  but  seeing,  unheard  but  hearing,  unperceived  but  per- 
ceiving, unknown  but  knowing.  There  is  no  other  seer  but 
He,  there  is  no  other  hearer  but  He,  there  is  no  other  perceiver 
but  He,  there  is  no  other  knower  but  He.  This  is  thy  Self,  the 
ruler  within,  the  immortal.   Everything  else  is  of  evil."^ 

The  Upanishads  are  the  ultimate  source  of  nearly  all  Indian 
religious  philosophy.  They  are  not  widely  read  to-day,  nor 
have  they  been  for  years;  and  yet  their  influence  is  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  book  ever  written  in  India.  They  struck 
the  keynote  for  all  subsequent  Indian  thought,  and  their  in- 
fluence upon  religious  and  thoughtful  souls,  including  millions 
who  have  never  read  them,  has  always  been  considerable.  It 
is  from  the  Upanishads  that  the  whole  long  line  of  Indian 
religious  poets,  from  the  writer  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita  to  Rabin- 
dranath  Tagore,  have  drawn  the  greater  part  of  their  inspira- 
tion. And  most  of  the  founders  of  new  religious  movements 
owe  their  ideas  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  Upanishads.  The 
directness  with  which  the  Upanishads  speak  to  the  Indian 
heart  is  finely  illustrated  in  the  "Autobiography"  of  Deven- 
dranath  Tagore  (the  father  of  the  poet).  He  had  long  been 
seeking  inner  peace  in  vain  when  one  day  a  page  of  the  Isa 
Upanishad  blew  past  him.  He  seized  it  and  with  the  help  of 
a  pundit  made  it  out.  He  had  never  read  any  of  the  Upani- 
shads before,  and  the  effect  of  this  one  page  was  the  trans- 
formation of  his  whole  life  and  the  new-directing  of  all  his 
energies.   The  message  from  the  ancient  book  came  to  him  as 

1  Brihadaranyaka  Up.  iv,  5,  15.  *  Ibid.,  m,  7,  13-15.  and  23. 

77 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

a  divine  answer  specially  sent  for  his  salvation.  "I  had  been 
eager  to  receive  a  sympathetic  response  from  men;  now  a  di- 
vine voice  had  descended  from  heaven  to  respond  in  my  heart 
of  hearts,  and  my  longing  was  satisfied.  I  got  just  what  I 
wanted.  I  had  never  heard  my  most  intimate  thoughts  ex- 
pressed like  this  anywhere  else.  The  very  mercy  of  God  Him- 
self descended  into  my  heart,  therefore  I  understood  the  deep 
significance  of  the  words.  Oh,  what  words  were  those  that 
struck  my  ears!  '  Enjoy  that  which  He  has  given  unto  thee.' 
What  is  it  that  He  has  given?  He  has  given  Himself.  Enjoy 
that  untold  treasure,  leave  everything  else  and  enjoy  that  su- 
preme treasure.  Cleave  unto  Him  alone  and  give  up  all  else. 
This  tells  me  what  I  have  long  desired.  It  was  not  the  dictum 
of  my  own  poor  intellect,  it  was  the  word  of  God  Himself. 
Glory  be  to  that  Rishi  in  whose  heart  this  truth  was  first  re- 
vealed. Oh,  what  a  blessed  day  that  was  for  me,  —  a  day 
of  heavenly  happiness!"  ^ 

The  Upanishads,  like  the  Bible,  as  I  have  said,  are  essen- 
tially religious  rather  than  systematically  philosophical.  But 
just  as  the  Prophets  and  Apostles  were  followed  by  the  theo- 
logians, so  the  Rishis  were  followed  by  the  acharyas  and  the 
pundits.  The  creation  of  the  Vedanta  philosophy  was  as  in- 
evitable as  that  of  Christian  theology.  Since  the  Upanishads 
contained  the  inspired  truth,  it  was  necessary  to  make  out 
exactly  what  they  meant;  hence  many  centuries  of  exegesis, 
culminating  in  the  Vedanta  Sutras  and  finally  in  the  Commen- 
taries of  Shankara,  Ramanuja,  and  other  great  scholars.  Of  the 
interpretations  which  these  commentators  give  us,  the  most 
influential  among  Indian  philosophers  is  the  "Advaita  Ve- 
danta," or  absolute  monism.  This  philosophy  was  given  its  final 
form  by  Shankara,  who,  though  he  lived  about  800  a.d.,  is  the 
absolute  ruler  of  what  may  be  called  the  dominant  philosophy 
in  India  —  or  at  least  of  northern  India  —  even  to-day.  Hence 

^  Autobiography  (Calcutta,  Lahiri,  1909),  pp.  15-16.  Many  an  Indian 
could  say  of  the  Upanishads  what  Coleridge  said  of  the  Bible:  it  "finds 
me."  But  the  appeal  of  the  Upanishads  is  not  confined  to  India.  Every  reader 
of  Emerson  will  remember  the  joy  that  these  ancient  writings  brought  to 
him;  and  Schopenhauer's  words  have  often  been  quoted:  "In  the  whole 
world  there  is  no  study  so  refined  and  so  elevating  as  that  of  the  Upanishads. 
It  has  been  the  solace  of  my  life.   It  will  be  the  solace  of  my  death." 

78 


THE   ONE   GOD 

in  studying  him  we  are  studying  contemporary  Indian  thought. 
I  have  no  intention  of  giving  even  an  outHne  of  his  great  sys- 
tem of  philosophy,  but  there  are  a  few  points  in  it  which  should 
be  touched  upon. 

Shankara's  Vedanta  makes  explicit  an  implication  which 
one  would  naturally  gather  from  the  earlier  Upanishads, 
namely,  the  impersonal  nature  of  Brahman.  In  the  Upani- 
shads this  is  not  made  explicit,  and  in  fact  the  later  Upani- 
shads sometimes  speak  of  Him  in  quite  theistic  terms.  But 
for  Shankara  and  his  stricter  followers  of  to-day  Brahman, 
though  spiritual,  —  a  conscious  subject,  —  is  not  personal. 
Hence  modern  Vedantists  most  often  refer  to  Brahman  as  It 
rather  than  as  Him.  Brahman  is  the  spiritual  unity  back  of  all 
phenomena. 

To  quote  from  the  official  "Textbook  of  Hindu  Religion," 
written  for  the  use  of  the  classes  in  the  Central  Hindu  College: 
"This  Unity,  which  never  appears  but  which  is,  is  implied  in 
the  very  existence  of  universes  and  systems  and  worlds  and 
individuals.  It  is  not  only  recognized  in  all  religion,  but  also 
in  all  philosophy  and  in  all  science  as  a  fundamental  necessity. 
Endless  disputes  and  controversies  have  arisen  about  It,  but 
none  has  denied  It.  Many  names  have  been  used  to  describe 
It  and  It  has  been  left  unnamed;  but  all  rest  upon  It.  It  has 
been  called  the  All  and  the  Nothing,  the  Fullness  and  the  Void, 
Absolute  Motion  and  Absolute  Rest,  the  Real,  the  Essence. 
All  are  true  yet  none  is  fully  true.  And  ever  the  words  of  the 
Sages  remain  as  best  conclusion:  'Not  this,  not  this.'  "  ^ 

I  once  asked  a  Hindu  philosopher  of  my  acquaintance  the 
question  whether  Brahman  were  personal  or  impersonal.  His 
answer  may  be  of  interest  to  the  reader.  "Are  you,"  he  asked, 
"personal  or  impersonal?  Personal  surely,"  he  continued; 
"yet  when  you  say  zee,  as  'we  men'  or  'we  thinkers,'  does  the 
word  we  mean  merely  a  collection  of  separate  selves?  Or  is 
there  something  in  common  between  those  selves  that  unites 
them?  This  uniting,  this  common  element,  is  not  personal. 
And  this  impersonal  element,  no  less  than  the  personal  ele- 
ment, must,  of  course,  be  in  each  of  us.  So  it  is  with  Brahman. 

^  Sandtana  Dharma:  An  Advanced  Textbook  of  Hindu  Religion  and 
Ethics  (2d  ed.,  Benares,  Central  Hindu  College,  1904),  p.  40. 

79 


INDIA   AND   ITS  FAITHS 

Brahman  is  both  personal  and  impersonal.  Aristotle  has  shown 
that  every  material  thing  is  both  concrete  and  abstract;  and 
in  the  same  way  Brahman  is  both  concrete  and  abstract,  both 
personal  and  impersonal.  This  point  of  view  must  govern  our 
answer  to  every  question  about  Him.  Monism,  pluralism,  the- 
ism, deism,  pantheism,  each  has  its  truth,  yet  none  is  the 
whole  truth.  Is  the  sun's  ray  red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue, 
or  violet?   It  is  not  any,  because  it  is  all." 

Yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  this  "One  without  a  sec- 
ond "  is  regarded  by  the  Vedanta  as  essentially  spiritual.  This 
in  fact  follows  for  the  Vedantist  from  the  very  conception  of 
Brahman  as  genuinely  real.  For  the  follower  of  Shankara  is 
in  the  last  analysis  an  idealist,  and  all  reality  is  for  him  ulti- 
mately to  be  expressed  in  terms  of  consciousness.  "The  Scrip- 
ture teaches,"  writes  Shankara,  "that  the  Brahman  without 
attributes  is  pure  spirituality  and  free  from  everything  which 
is  distinct  from  it;  for  it  says:  'As  a  lump  of  salt  has  no  inside 
and  no  outside,  but  consists  of  salt  taste  through  and  through, 
so  has  This  Self  no  distinguishable  inner  or  outer,  but  consists 
through  and  through  of  knowledge.'  This  means,"  continues 
Shankara,  "that  this  Self  is  through  and  through  nothing  but 
spirit:  the  spiritual  is  its  entire  nature,  as  the  salt  taste  is  that 
of  the  lump  of  salt."  ^ 

An  Absolute  that  includes  within  itself  all  that  is  must  obvi- 
ously be  neither  good  nor  bad  in  the  moral  sense,  but  simply 
jenseits  von  Gut  und  Bose.  The  moral  category  does  not  ap- 
ply to  It.  This  Shankara  and  his  followers  explicitly  recognize 
and  even  insist  upon.  Emerson  represented  the  orthodox  In- 
dian view  very  justly  when  he  put  into  the  mouth  of  "  Brahm  " 
the  words  — 

"  Far  and  forgot  to  me  are  near, 
Shadow  and  sunlight  are  the  same." 

And  Brahman  is  not  only  non-moral.  He  is  also  altogether 
actionless.  This  characteristic  is  for  the  orthodox  Vedantist 
one  of  His  chief  distinctions.  Unlike  the  many  gods.  Brahman 
seeks  nothing,  wishes  nothing,  needs  nothing,  does  nothing,  — 
nothing,  that  is,  except  to  be,  and  His  being  involves  "all 

»  Quoted  by  Deussen  in  Das  System  des  Vedanta  (Leipzig,  Brockhaus, 
1906),  p.  229. 

80 


THE   ONE  GOD 

this."  Hence,  being  actionless,  Brahman  is  for  the  Vedantist 
not  an  object  of  worship,  but  only  a  necessary  philosophic 
conception  —  with,  it  must  be  added,  a  certain  emotional 
glow.  In  strict  logic,  therefore,  it  may  be  said  that  the  consis- 
tent Vedantist  should  not  pray.  So  far,  at  any  rate,  as  his 
religion  is  connected  with  Brahman  he  will  make  no  petitions; 
for  that  aspect  of  him  which  is  one  with  Brahman  is  out  of 
time  and  quite  careless  of  change  and  chance.  He  should,  how- 
ever, and  usually  does,  repeat  the  gayatri  ^  every  day,  but  re- 
gards it  not  as  a  prayer,  but  as  a  form  of  meditation  on  the 
ultimate  truth  of  philosophy. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  Vedantists  do  pray  and  worship; 
but  their  worship  is  directed  either  toward  the  limited  and 
personal  "Brahma  with  qualities,"  whom  Shankara  and  his 
predecessors  recognized  as  a  manifestation  of  the  unlimited 
Brahman;  or  toward  one  of  the  many  devas  —  especially  Shiva 
or  Vishnu  —  whom  all  Vedantists  accept  quite  seriously  as 
partial  expressions  of  the  Divine  and  as  having  the  same  sort 
of  quasi-reality  that  you  and  I  have.  "Shiva  and  Vishnu  are 
real  personal  beings,"  said  a  Hindu  philosopher  to  me,  "and 
just  as  they  are  infinitely  inferior  to  Brahman,  so  they  may 
be  said  to  be  on  a  plane  infinitely  superior  to  ours.  They  are 
personal  in  the  same  way  that  we  are  personal,  and  impersonal 
in  the  same  way  we  are  impersonal  —  though  probably  some- 
what less  personal  than  we,  somewhat  less  separate,  more 
impersonal,  more  universal,  more  inclusive."  In  the  last 
analysis,  of  course,  they,  like  ourselves,  are  really  one  with 
Brahman;  and  all  separateness  in  them  as  in  us  is  an  illusion. 

All  separateness  is  illusion ;  and  this  illusion  is  the  explana- 
tion of  this  material  world,  which,  though  seemingly  many,  is 
in  realit>'  identical  with  the  "One  without  a  second."  The 
Upanishads  had  asserted  this  identity,  but  had  not  tried  to 
solve  the  problem  resulting.  Shankara  seriously  tried,  and  his 
reasoning  seems  to  have  been  in  general  something  like  this: 
If  Brahman  alone  is  real,  and  if  Brahman  is  an  absolute  Unity, 
a  pure  perceiving  subject,  then  the  world  as  we  see  it  must  be 
unreal.  It  must  be  merely  a  vision,  so  to  say,  which  Brahman 
creates,  a  shadow  which  Brahman  casts.  It  is  due  to  Brah- 
>  See  p.  137. 
8l 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

man's  Maya,  His  "creative  faculty";  it  is,  in  fact,  a  kind  of 
"wraith"  ^  of  Brahman.  The  world,  then,  is  Maya,  a  word 
which,  though  it  originally  referred  to  Brahman's  creative 
power,  has  come  in  Shankara's  philosophy  to  mean  Illusion, 
or,  in  more  modern  terms,  Appearance.  The  phenomenal 
world  is  unreal  in  much  the  same  sense  that  the  World  of 
i\ppearance  in  Bradley's  famous  book  is  unreal.  In  fact  the 
Advaita  Vedanta  resembles  Bradley's  system,  and  even 
Royce's,  and  the  whole  neo-Hegelian  Weltanschauung  in  many 
important  respects,  being  frankly  an  idealistic  monism.  But  its 
closest  spiritual  relative  in  the  West  is  the  philosophy  of  Fichte. 
Thus  my  Vedantist  friend  in  Benares  said  to  me :"  Matter  exists 
only  as  the  expression  or  idea  of  spirit.  The  Vedanta  is  Berke- 
leyan  in  principle,  except  that  it  makes  matter,  not  the  experi- 
ence of  many  individual  spirits,  but  of  the  Universal  Spirit. 
Thus  we  may  say  that  Spirit  creates  or  evolves  or  imagines 
matter.  As  an  independent  entity  matter  simply  does  not 
exist.  The  universal  Ego  posits  the  not-I,  but  does  so  only  in 
turn  to  deny  it."  This,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  a  rather  West- 
ern and  Fichtean  mode  of  expressing  the  Vedantist  view  of 
matter.  Shankara  and  the  conservative  pundits  use  some- 
what different  language,  —  which,  however,  comes  to  the 
same  thing.  The  world,  say  they,  is  due  to  Avidya,  to  ignorance 
—  to  our  ignorance,  but  also  and  primarily  to  a  kind  of 
universal  and  cosmic  ignorance.  There  are,  teach  Shankara 
and  his  followers,  three  kinds  of  reality:  "absolute,"  "con- 
ventional" or  "practical,"  and  "imaginars-."  The  first  of 
these  is  Brahman  alone;  the  second  is  this  material  world, 
Time  and  Space,  and  our  separate  selves;  the  third  consists 
of  such  things  as  we  all  recognize  as  illusions,  as  when  one 
takes  a  rope  for  a  snake  or  a  piece  of  tin  for  a  coin.  Now, 
teaches  Shankara,  the  second  kind  of  reality  so-called  is  really 
quite  as  illusor^^  and  imaginary'  as  the  third ;  both  are  due  to 
the  same  general  kind  of  causes  and  both  may  be  corrected  in 
the  same  way.  Why  is  it  that  we  take  the  rope  for  the  snake 
and  the  tin  for  the  coin?  It  is  because  of  our  fears  and 
desires,  because  of  the  interests  of  our  separate  selves.    W^e 

^  Cf.  Barnett's  Introduction  to  his  translation  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita, 
P-39. 

82 


THE   ONE  GOD 

allow  these  things  to  captivate  our  attention  and  obstruct  our 
vision.  And  our  acceptance  of  "conventional"  reality,  of  this 
world  of  the  many,  as  genuinely  real  is  due  to  the  same  causes. 
And  as  the  rope  ceases  to  look  like  a  snake  when  we  know  it 
is  a  rope  and  put  away  our  thought  of  self-interest  and  its 
consequent  fear;  so  would  this  world  of  manifold  separate 
things  vanish  away  if  we  could  fully  vanquish  our  ignorance 
and  our  desires,  and  nothing  be  left  but  the  Unlimited  Brahman 
without  qualities,  the  Universal  Subject  with  no  object.  Pure 
Consciousness. 

But  whence  the  ignorance  that  hides  from  our  eyes  this 
vision?  Whence  this  delusion  of  a  separate  self  with  separate 
interests  in  a  world  of  things  and  actions,  if  in  truth  there  be 
no  separate  selves,  no  action,  no  things,  and  no  world?  Your 
Vedantist  will  sometimes  answer,  "It  is  due  to  Maya."  But 
what,  then,  is  the  source  of  Maya?  Some  will  respond,  "It  is 
Brahman's  will."  But  Brahman,  then,  has  a  will?  "No,  that 
would  give  It  qualities  and  make  It  act."  Is  Maya,  then,  a 
second  reality  in  addition  to  Brahman?  "No!  No!  There  is 
only  One  without  a  second."  WTiat,  then,  is  Maya?  "It  is," 
said  one  monk  to  me,  "a  part  of  Brahman."  Brahman,  then, 
has  parts?  "No!  No!  This  Maya  is  not  real.  It  must  be  con- 
ceived as  coming  from  our  ignorance."  But  why  are  we  —  we 
who  are  really  identical  with  Brahman  —  so  ignorant?  "Alas, 
we  are  too  ignorant  to  answer  that  question.  Our  ignorance 
is  due  to  Maya."  And  this  is  where  we  started!  ^ 

The  monistic  Vedanta  of  Shankara  is,  as  I  have  said,  the 
dominant  philosophy  of  India,  or  at  least  of  northern  India, 
to-day.  As  such  it  has  great  importance.  Yet  its  importance 
is  easily  exaggerated  and  has  often  been  overestimated.  It  is 
the  philosophy  of  certain  philosophers  and  pundits;  but  there 
are  many  thinkers  who  accept  other  forms  of  religious  phi- 

*  I  appealed  to  my  friend  the  philosopher  for  further  light  on  this  point. 
He  said:  "The  consciousness  of  the  One  Spirit  consists  in  recognizing  the 
illusion  of  the  phenomenal  world  which  it  posits.  With  it  positing  and 
negating  are  one  simultaneous  and  timeless  act-  The  One  and  the  Many, 
the  Unchanging  and  the  Changeful,  are  thus  reconciled.  It  is  expressed 
by  the  logion  'I-this-not'  —  in  other  words  the  not- 1  is  posited  only  to  be 
at  the  same  time  opposed  and  negated."  But  why  does  the  One  thus  posit 
and  deny  at  all?  To  this  my  friend  had  no  answer. 

83 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

losophy,  and  many  intelligent  and  deeply  religious  men  who 
reach  back  past  all  systems  to  the  religious  intuitions  of  the 
Upanishads  themselves.  It  is  not  the  technicalities  of  Shan- 
kara's  philosophy,  nor  its  insistence  that  the  world  is  unreal 
which  has  given  it  its  great  influence  in  India,  but  rather  its 
1  defense  of  the  religious  doctrine  that  God  is  immanent  in  all 
things  and  dwells  in  our  hearts.  "Some  modern  philosophers 
of  Europe,"  writes  Tagore,  "maintain  that  the  Brahman  of 
India  is  a  mere  abstraction,  a  negation  of  all  that  is  in  the 
world,  —  in  a  word,  that  the  Infinite  Being  is  to  be  found  no- 
where except  in  metaphysics.  It  may  be  that  such  a  doctrine 
has  been  and  still  is  prevalent  with  a  section  of  our  country- 
men. But  this  is  certainly  not  in  accord  with  the  prevailing 
spirit  of  the  Indian  mind.  Instead,  it  is  the  practice  of  realiz- 
ing and  affirming  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  in  all  things  which 
has  been  its  constant  inspiration."  * 

The  Vedanta  philosophy,  as  distinct  from  the  commentaries 
upon  it,  whether  written  by  Shankara  or  any  one  else,  is  al- 
ways said  to  be  based  on  three  great  books  or  sets  of  books  — 
namely,  (i)  the  Upanishads,  (2)  the  Vedanta  Sutras,  (3)  the 
Bhagavad  Gita.  As  the  third  of  these  is  by  no  means  in  agree- 
ment with  the  two  others,  commentators  upon  the  Vedanta 
have  always  had  to  make  a  choice  between  these  books,  take 
their  fundamental  point  of  view  from  one  of  them,  and  then 
"interpret"  the  rest  of  the  canon  in  the  light  of  their  chosen 
scripture.  Shankara  was  guided  chiefly  by  the  Upanishads 
and  the  Sutras.  Ramanuja,  the  other  great  commentator, 
who  lived  about  two  hundred  years  later,  chose  the  Gita  as 
his  guide  and  interpreted  the  other  books  in  the  light  of  it. 
The  Bhagavad  Gita  grew  out  of  the  cult  of  Vasudeva-Krishna- 
Vishnu.  The  sect  who  worshiped  in  a  special  sense  this  deity, 
together  with  the  Shaivites  or  worshipers  of  Shiva,  had  during 
the  centuries  just  preceding  our  era  developed  a  new  sort  of 
religious  experience,  known  as  bhakti  or  devotion.  Perhaps  I 
should  not  call  this  new,  for  even  in  the  Rig  Veda  there  are 
hymns  ^  which  speak  at  least  the  beginnings  of  a  personal  re- 
lationship between  worshiper  and  God;  and  yet  as  the  really 
vital  and  absorbing  thing  in  religion  this  relation  of  love  and 
»  Sadhana,  p.  16.  *  For  example,  i,  25. 


THE   ONE   GOD 

devotion  to  a  personal  God  was,  in  the  early  days  of  the  great 
Sects,  a  new  experience.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  Vedanta 
philosophy,  with  its  One  Infinite  Brahman,  was  spreading 
among  the  intelligent  classes.  And  by  the  beginning  of  our 
era  the  problem  for  many  an  earnest  worshiper  of  Vishnu  and 
of  Shiva  seems  to  have  been  cruel  and  pressing:  How  accept 
the  teachings  of  philosophy  and  yet  maintain  the  belief  in  my 
beloved  Lord,  whose  bhakti  forms  all  the  real  religion  that  I 
have?  ^ 

The  solution  to  this  problem  was  found  about  the  beginning 
of  our  era  for  both  sects,  by  means  of  the  identification  of  the 
god  of  each  sect  with  the  Infinite  Brahman.  For  the  Vaishna- 
vas  this  view  that  the  personal  god  of  the  sect  is  in  reality  the 
Absolute  Deity  finds  its  best  expression  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita, 
the  most  widely  read  and  universally  loved  book  in  all  San- 
skrit literature.  It  is,  as  Howells  says,  "a  living  book,  de- 
voutly read  and  studied  by  tens  of  thousands  of  Hindus 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  India.  All  men  of  light 
and  leading  in  India  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  its  contents, 
and  no  man  of  culture,  whether  that  culture  be  native  or  for- 
eign, and  whether  he  lives  in  village,  town,  or  city,  neglects 
the  study  of  it."  ^ 

The  Gita  presents  us  with  a  view  of  God  different  from  any 
we  have  studied.^  For  we  find  here  neither  polytheism  nor 
idealistic  monism,  but  unquestionable  theism.  There  is  really 
one  God  only ;  but  this  one  God  is  not  an  impersonal  essence, 
nor  a  universal  perceiving  subject.  He  is  a  personal  Being 
whom  His  worshipers  may  love,  and  who  in  turn  loves  them. 
But  this  personal  God  is  by  no  means  a  transcendent  Deity, 

^  This  dilemma  is  well  presented  by  Farquhar,  Crown  of  Hinduism,  p.  366. 

*  Op  cit.,  p.  427. 

»  According  to  Professor  Garbe,  the  Gita  falls  into  two  distinct  parts, 
an  older  theistic  Gita,  written  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century  B.C. 
and  expressing  the  views  of  the  religion  of  Vasudeva-Krishna- Vishnu; 
and,  secondly,  various  additional  verses  of  the  pantheistic  sort,  inserted 
after  Vishnu  had  come  to  be  identified  with  Brahman.  Professor  Bhan- 
darkar  rejects  this  division,  pointing  out  that  the  Indian  view  is  always 
that  of  an  immanent  God  even  when  this  God  is  conceived  as  personal. 
The  question  whether  the  Gita  was  written  originally  in  its  present  form 
or  is  a  composite  as  Professor  Garbe  believes,  does  not,  however,  concern 
us  here;  for  it  is  the  Gita  as  it  stands  to-day  that  we  are  considering. 

85 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

standing  apart  from  nature  like  the  God  of  the  English  deists  or 
the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament.  He  is,  on  the  contrary,  as 
immanent  in  the  entire  universe  as  the  Brahman  of  the  Ve- 
danta  Himself.  The  material  world  is  recognized  as  perfectly 
real,  but  it  is  only  the  form  or  the  body  of  the  Supreme  Spirit, 
who  moves  it  and  dwells  within  it  as  the  World  Soul  or  as  the 
Logos  of  Greek  philosophy.  And  the  souls  of  men  are  also 
parts  of  the  Supreme  Spirit,  although  retaining  through  eter- 
nity their  partial  individuality.  Thus  we  may  say  that  God 
has  three  aspects:  as  the  supreme,  unmanifested  One,  and  as 
the  two  manifestations  of  matter  and  of  spirit.  Or  we  may 
describe  the  Divine  Nature  as  dual  rather  than  triune,  namely 
as  unmanifested  and  as  manifested.  "A  nature  have  I  of  eight 
orders,"  says  Sri  Krishna  in  the  Gita,  "Water,  Fire,  Wind, 
Ether,  Mind,  Understanding,  and  Thought  of  an  I,  —  this  is 
the  lower.  But  know  that  I  have  another  and  higher  Nature 
than  this,  one  of  Elemental  Soul,  and  thereby  is  upheld  this 
universe.  Learn  that  from  these  twain  are  sprung  all  born 
beings;  the  source  of  the  whole  universe  and  its  dissolution 
am  I.  There  is  naught  higher  than  I;  all  this  universe  is 
strung  upon  Me  as  gems  upon  a  thread.  I  am  taste  in  water; 
I  am  light  in  moon  and  sun.  The  pure  scent  of  earth  am  I  and 
the  light  in  fire.  The  life  of  all  born  beings  am  I."^ 

In  the  Vishnu  Purana  it  is  written:  "As  gold  is  still  one  sub- 
stance howsoever  diversified  as  bracelets,  tiaras,  or  ear-rings, 
so  Hari  [Vishnu]  is  one  and  the  same,  although  modified  in  the 
form  of  gods,  animals,  and  men.  As  the  drops  of  water,  raised 
by  the  wind  from  the  earth,  sink  into  the  earth  again  when  the 
wind  subsides,  so  the  various  gods,  men,  and  animals  which 
have  been  detached  by  the  agitation  of  the  qualities,  are 
reunited  when  that  disturbance  ceases  with  the  Eternal. "^ 

For  the  devout  Shaivite  Shiva  takes  the  same  position  of 
supreme  yet  all-inclusive  personal  God  that  Vishnu  has  for  the 
Vaishnavite.  He  is  commonly  represented  as  dancing;  and  this 
is  a  symbol  of  a  philosophical  conception.  For  the  entire  cosmic 
process  is  his  deed,  and  all  his  acts  are  but  eternal  sport.  Says 
a  Tamil  verse:  "Our  Lord  is  a  dancer  who,  like  the  heat  latent 
in  firewood,  diffuses  his  power  in  mind  and  matter,  and  makes 
1  vn,  4-8.  *  ni,  7. 

86 


KRISHNA    PLAYING    HIS    PIPE 


THE   ONE  GOD 

them  dance  in  their  turn."  For  his  philosophical  followers 
Shiva  is  sometimes  the  manifestation  of  Brahman;  sometimes 
He  has  taken  the  place  of  Brahman.  Though  a  personal  and 
theistic  God  He  is  immanent  in  the  world,  and  though  different 
from  us  He  is  the  eternal  Lover  of  our  souls.  A  Tamil  poet  of  the 
Eleventh  Century  sings  to  Him :  — 

"O  Splendour  dawning  within  my  soul  as  I  sink  in  swooning  desire, 
Whose  lotus-feet  ruddily  deck  the  crowns  of  the  chief  of  the  heavenly 

choir, 
Who  art  all-spread  Ether,  E^rth,  Water,  Air,  Fire,  —  who  art  these  yet 

other  than  they  — 
Whose  shape  in  their  shape  is  hidden  —  O  joy  to  have  seen  Thy  vision 

to-day ! 

"The  darkness  to-day  Thou  dravest  away,  didst  dawn  in  my  heart  as  the 

sun. 
In  thought  beyond  thought  my  spirit  hath  sought  Thy  being:  save  Thee 

there  is  none. 
Thou  art  One,  art  the  Energy  stirred  for  aye,  self-subliming  to  endless 

degree ; 
Thou  art  other  than  ought:  save  Thee  there  is  naught  — O  who  may  have 

knowledge  of  Thee? 

"Thou  gavest  Thyself  and  me  didst  take;  wert  Thou  the  more  cunning 

or  I? 
I  got  of  Thee  bliss  everlasting,  O  Thou  whose  home  is  in  Perun-durai; 
From  me  what  hast  Thou  won  my  Sovereign?  for  Thou  hast  made  of  my 

spirit  Thy  fane, 
And  hast  set  Thine  abode  in  my  body  to-day  —  all  mine  the  unrecom- 

pensed  gain!"  ^ 

There  have  been  disputes  and  rivalries  between  the  differ- 
ent philosophical  sects  of  India;  but  as  compared  with  the 
wranglings  between  Christian  churches  these  Indian  disputes 
are  as  nothing  at  all.  For  not  only  the  learned,  but  many  also 
of  the  ignorant,  in  India,  know  that  the  different  names  for 
Deity  are  but  names,  after  all,  and  they  are  content  that  the 
One  God  should  have  an  infinity  of  titles.  Says  the  Vishnu 
Purana,  "He  who  offers  sacrifices,  sacrifices  to  Vishnu:  he 
who  murmurs  prayers,  prays  to  Him;  he  who  injures  living 
creatures,  injures  Him;  for  Hari  is  all  beings."  ^  In  this  belief 
in  a  common  God  and  a  common  worship,  no  matter  what 
names  be  used,  unite  nearly  all  intelligent  Vaishnavites,  Shai- 
vites,  Shaktas,  and  Vedantists.  Ramakrishna  spoke  for  the 
1  From  Barnett's  The  Heart  of  India,  p.  84.  '  ni,  8. 

87 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

spiritually  minded  Hindu  of  all  sects  and  all  ages  when  he  said 
to  his  disciples:  "People  dispute  among  themselves,  saying: 
'God  is  personal,  with  form.  He  cannot  be  impersonal  and 
formless,'  —  like  the  Vaishnavas  who  find  fault  with  those 
who  worship  the  Impersonal  Brahman.  When  realization 
comes,  then  all  these  questions  are  settled.  He  who  has  seen 
God  can  tell  exactly  what  He  is  like.  As  Kabir  said :  '  God  with 
form  is  my  Mother,  God  without  form  is  my  Father.  Whom 
shall  I  blame,  whom  shall  I  praise?  The  balance  is  even.'  He 
is  with  form,  yet  He  is  formless.  He  is  personal,  yet  He  is  im- 
personal; and  who  can  say  what  other  aspects  He  may  have!"  ^ 
The  many  aspects  of  the  Supreme  have  never  made  India 
lose  what  to  it  is  the  fundamental  truth  of  religion  and  phil- 
osophy, that  though  God  is  exalted  and  dwelleth  on  high,  He 
is  not  far  from  any  one  of  us.  This  is  the  great  message  of 
India's  seers,  poets,  and  prophets  through  the  ages.  It  is  a 
striking  fact,  this  unanimity  of  the  representatives  of  an  entire 
people,  during  twenty-five  hundred  years,  in  expressing  the 
Testimonium  Animce.  I  have  already  shown  by  quotations 
of  some  length  from  the  Upanishads  and  the  Gita  the  earlier 
voicings  of  this  experience.  The  message  is  not  one  of  hoary 
antiquity  alone,  but  has  been  handed  on  from  seer  to  seer  to 
our  own  day.  Ramanuja  and  Ramanand  carried  the  light  of 
the  Gita  through  many  centuries,  Kabir,  the  Weaver  of  Ben- 
ares and  the  disciple  of  Ramanand,  voiced  it  in  many  forms:  — 

"Turning  away  from  the  world  I  have  forgotten  both  caste  and  lineage; 
My  weaving  is  now  in  the  infinite  Silence. 
My  heart  being  pure,  I  have  seen  the  Lord: 

Kabir  having  searched  and  searched  himself  hath  found  God  within 
him." 

"God  cannot  be  obtained  even  by  offering  one's  weight  in  gold; 
But  I  have  purchased  Him  with  my  soul. 

Brahma,  however  much  he  talketh,  hath  not  found  God's  limit; 
But  by  my  devotion  God  came  to  me  as  I  sate  at  home."  '^ 

"O  man,"  writes  Nanak,  a  younger  contemporan,'  of  Kabir 
who  had  learned  from  him, 

1  The  Gospel  of  Ramakrishia  (New  York,  Vedanta  Society,  1907),  p.  28. 
*  From   Macauliflfe,  The  Sikh  Religion  (Oxford,  Froude,  1909),  vol.  n, 
pp.  260  and  152. 


THE   ONE   GOD 

"O  man,  entertain  such  love  for  God  as  the  lotus  hath  for  the  water. 
Such  love  doth  it  bear  it  that  it  bloometh  even  when  dashed  down  by 
the  waves."  ^ 

The  intensity  of  the  bhakta's  longing  for  God  is  nowhere 
better  shown  than  in  the  poems  —  one  might  say  the  prayers 
—  of  another  spiritual  successor  of  Ramanand,  the  sixteenth- 
century  poet  Tulsi  Das.  "Lord,  look  thou  upon  me!"  he  ex- 
claims, "naught  can  I  do  of  myself.  Whither  can  I  go?  To 
whom  but  Thee  can  I  tell  my  sorrows?  Oft  have  I  turned  my 
face  from  Thee  and  grasped  the  things  of  this  world ;  but  Thou 
art  the  fountain  of  mercy;  turn  not  Thou  thy  face  from  me. 
.  .  .  Lord,  Thy  ways  ever  give  joy  unto  my  heart.  Tulsi  is 
thine  alone;  and  O  God  of  mercy,  do  unto  him  as  seemeth  good 
unto  Thee."  - 

Kabir  was  as  much  Mohammedan  as  Hindu,  Xanak  was  the 
founder  of  the  Sikhs,  Tulsi  Das,  like  Ramanuja  and  Rama- 
nand, was  a  Vaishnavite;  and  in  the  Shaivite  school  we  find  the 
same  feeling  of  mystery  and  deep  joy  at  the  visit  of  God  to  the 
soul.  "The  Light  that  was  in  the  beginning  and  hath  no  begin- 
ning," writes  Tayumanavar,  the  Tamil  devotee  of  Shiva,  in 
the  early  eighteenth  century;  "  the  Light  which  shineth  in  me  as 
Bliss  and  Thought,  appeared  as  the  Silent  One.  He  spake  to 
me,  sister,  words  not  to  be  spoken. 

"The  words  that  were  spoken,  how  shall  I  tell?  Cunningly 
he  seated  me  all  alone,  with  nothing  before  me.  He  made  me 
happy,  beloved,  he  grasped  me  and  clung  to  me. 

"He  bade  me  put  all  other  clingings  aside  and  cling  to  Him 
within.  Wliat  I  got  as  I  clung  to  him,  how  shall  I  tell?  He 
spake  of  things  never  spoken,  beloved. 

"'Think  not  of  Me  as  other  than  thou.'  When  He  uttered 
this  one  word,  how  can  I  tell  the  bliss  that  grew  from  that 
W^ord? 

"The  field  where  grew  the  bliss  of  Shiva,  that  pure  space  I 
drew  near.  Weeding  out  the  weeds  of  darkness,  I  then  looked. 
Save  the  Lord's  splendor,  I  saw  naught,  sister. 

"The  blessed  Light  of  Bliss  that  struck  me  by  His  grace 
made  me,  who  am  less  than  an  atom,  into  perfect  fullness 

1  The  Sikh  Religion,  vol.  I,  p.  270. 

'  Grierson  in  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India,  vol.  n,  p.  420. 

89 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

without  motion  hither  or  thither.  Lo,  the  strangeness  of  it, 
sister!"  ^ 

Barriers  of  faith  do  not  bar  this  insight.  The  hymn-writer 
of  the  theistic  Brahmo  Samaj,^  which  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  still  carried  onward  the  Upanishad  tradition, 
could  sing :  — 

"O  Thou  incomparable  Light  of  lights;  the  sun,  moon, 
planets  and  stars  are  devoid  of  luster  before  Thee. 

"As  a  single  sun,  with  myriads  of  rays,  lights  up  the  whole 
world,  so  Thy  love,  scattered  in  a  thousand  ways,  wells  up  in 
the  pure  love  of  woman,  and  lives  in  the  maternal  heart. 

"The  high  peak  that  pierces  the  clouds,  or  the  deep  blue 
sea,  whithersoever  we  go,  Thou  art  there.  The  bright  efful- 
gence of  the  sun  is  a  ray  from  Thee,  and  Thy  shining  is  in  the 
moon,  and  Thy  mild  loveliness  in  the  clouds;  whether  in 
crowded  cities  or  in  the  lonely  forest,  wherever  we  roam, 
Thou  art  there." 

And  in  our  own  day  the  poet  who  perhaps  better  than  any 
other  voices  the  spirit  of  India,  puts  afresh  the  same  ever  re- 
curring testimony :  — 

"The  day  was  when  I  did  not  keep  myself  in  readiness  for 
thee ;  and  entering  my  heart  unbidden  even  as  one  of  the  com- 
mon crowd,  unknown  to  me,  my  King,  thou  didst  press  the 
signet  of  eternity  upon  many  a  fleeting  moment  of  my  life. 

"And  today,  when  by  chance  I  light  upon  them  and  see  thy 
signature,  I  find  that  they  have  lain  scattered  in  the  dust 
mixed  with  the  memory  of  joys  and  sorrows  of  my  trivial  days 
forgotten. 

"Thou  didst  not  turn  from  my  childish  play  among  dust, 
and  the  steps  that  I  heard  in  my  playroom  are  the  same  that 
are  echoing  from  star  to  star."  ^ 

*  Quoted  by  Barnett  in  The  Heart  of  India,  pp.  85  and  87. 

2  Satyendranath  Tagore,  an  older  brother  of  the  well-known  poet. 
The  hymn  here  quoted  is  taken  from  Shivanath  Shastri's  History  of  the 
Brahma  Samaj  (Calcutta,  Chatterji,  191 1),  vol.  i,  p.  120. 

'  Rabindranath  Tagore,  Gitanjali  (Macmillan,  19 13),  p.  35. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DUTY  AND   DESTINY 

THE  central  point  of  Hindu  thought  is  the  soul.  It  is  from 
the  soul  or  self  that  all  the  reasoning  of  the  Hindu  starts 
and  to  it  that  all  his  arguments  finally  return.  The  Hindus  are 
sure  of  the  soul.  There  is  nothing  else  that  they  are  so  sure  of. 
As  to  the  material  world,  they  are  not  very  certain  of  it.  Cer- 
tainty begins  with  the  "knowing  self."  This  is  the  doctrine 
which  the  West  believes  officially.  It  is  good  for  professors  of 
philosophy  to  teach,  good  for  their  students  to  remember  on 
examination,  good  for  the  clergy  to  preach  on  Sundays,  good 
for  the  rest  of  us  to  assent  to  and  refer  to  occasionally  —  very 
occasionally  —  in  conversation.  But  in  India  people  really 
believe  it.  They  believe  it  every  day  in  the  week.  They  act 
upon  it  and  plan  out  their  lives  in  reference  to  it.  It  is  to  them 
a  practical  as  well  as  a  theoretical  reality. 

The  soul  means  to  the  Indian  "  the  knowing  self."  The  strict 
follower  of  the  monistic  Vedanta  (and  of  the  Samkhya  philoso- 
phy as  well)  strips  this  inner  kernel  of  our  being  of  every  quality 
till  it  becomes  a  pure  perceiving  subject  like  "the  Brahman 
without  qualities"  —  with  whom,  in  fact,  it  is  identical.  The 
follower  of  Ramanuja  leaves  it  more  individuality,  though 
making  it  ultimately  one  (in  some  sense  or  other)  with  the  per- 
sonal God.  And  the  non-philosophic  Hindu  is  not  troubled 
with  the  refinements  of  the  question,  but  still  does  a  deal  of 
thinking  concerning  the  soul  and  its  eternal  destiny. 

The  knowing  self,  then,  is  the  innermost  kernel  of  a  man; 
but  the  self  as  we  know  it  empirically  in  ourselves  and  others 
contains  also  many  relatively  temporary  characteristics,  which, 
though  not  eternal  like  the  inmost  self,  may  travel  with  it 
through  many  births  and  characterize  it  through  many  lives. 
This  view  the  Hindus  express  in  the  doctrine  of  the  many 
"sheaths"  or  "bodies"  surrounding  the  soul.  There  is,  of 
course,  the  outer  sheath,  the  physical  body  which  we  all  see, 

91 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  which  the  soul  quits  at  death.  But  besides  this  there  are 
several  other  sheaths,  of  increasing  inwardness,  some  of  which 
we  lose  in  the  next  world,  while  some  still  abide  through  long 
series  of  lives.  But  the  inner  kernel,  the  real  self  of  a  man,  is 
never  stripped  off,  is  never  put  away.  It  is  one  of  the  eternal 
elements  of  the  universe,  a  spark  of  the  One  Eternal  Element; 
for,  as  we  have  seen,  for  both  Vedantist  and  bhakta,  it  is  in 
some  sense  or  other  a  part  of  the  Divine,  or  even  identical  with 
God  Himself. 

This  unity  of  the  soul  with  God  is  at  the  foundation  not  only 
of  Hindu  metaphysics,  but  of  Hindu  ethics  as  well.  The  great 
aim  of  life  is  the  full  realization  of  that  God-consciousness,  the 
significance  of  which  forms  the  central  point  of  Hindu  thought. 
Before  this  can  be  fully  attained,  the  soul  must  be  liberated 
from  the  mass  of  particular  interests  and  petty  wishes  and  self- 
born  illusions  which  weigh  it  down  and  hide  from  it  the  beati- 
fic vision.  Hence  liberation  and  realization  may  be  called  the 
twin  ideals  of  Hinduism,  and  it  is  these  that  determine  all  its 
ethical  theory. 

The  first  step  toward  the  realization  of  this  ideal  is,  of  course, 
to  be  found  in  ordinary  negative  morality.  Hence  we  find  in 
the  sacred  books  of  the  Hindus,  and  in  their  social  customs  and 
popular  ideals,  certain  conventional  views  of  virtue  and  vice 
which  have  been  common  among  most  civilized  peoples  from 
the  Egyptians  down.  These  are  "sanctioned,"  in  India  as 
elsewhere,  by  the  usual  paraphernalia  of  delightful  heavens 
and  terrible  hells.  The  Garuda  Purana  (a  kind  of  Hindu 
Dante)  has  a  list  of  sinners  who  may  expect  punishment  in  the 
next  world,  which  shows  that  the  Hindu  conscience  Is  far  from 
insensible;  for  it  includes  (among  many  others)  "slayers  of 
Brahmins,  drinkers  of  intoxicants,  slayers  of  cows,  infanticides, 
murderers  of  women,  destroyers  of  the  embryo,  and  those  who 
commit  secret  sins;  those  who  steal  the  wealth  of  the  teacher, 
the  property  of  the  temple  or  of  the  twice-born,  or  the  posses- 
sions of  women  or  children ;  those  who  do  not  pay  their  debts, 
who  misappropriate  deposits  or  betray  confidence,  or  who  kill 
with  poisonous  food;  those  who  seize  upon  faults  and  depre- 
ciate merits,  who  are  jealous  of  the  good;  those  who  despise 
places  of  pilgrimage  and  disparage  the  scriptures;  those  who 
92 


DUTY  AND  DESTINY 

are  elated  at  seeing  the  miserable  and  who  try  to  make  the 
happy  wretched,"  ^  etc.  It  is  only  fair  to  add  that  one  of  the 
sins  for  which  Hinduism  has  no  tolerance  is  that  of  intoxica- 
tion; and  the  teachings  of  the  Hindu  religion  on  this  subject 
have  ver>'  solid  and  splendid  results.  Du  Bois,  whose  book 
may  almost  be  described  as  one  long  tirade  against  Hindu 
immorality  and  superstition,  cannot  help  writing  as  follows: 
"As  a  rule  a  respectable  Hindu  will  not  touch  spirits  or  intoxi- 
cating drink,  considering  that  they  cause  one  of  the  greatest 
internal  defilements  that  it  is  possible  to  contract.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  praiseworthy  opinion  drunkenness  is  looked 
upon  as  a  degrading  and  infamous  vice,  and  any  one  would  be 
promptly  and  ignominiously  expelled  from  his  caste  were  he 
found  guilt>-  of  giving  way  to  it.  It  is  only  Pariahs  and  men 
of  the  lowest  classes  who  dare  publicly  to  consume  intoxicating 
drinks.  One  does  occasionally  see  in  European  settlements  and 
in  the  large  towns  high-caste  natives,  and  even  Brahmins, 
breaking  the  law  of  temperance;  but  it  is  only  in  strict  privacy 
and  after  every  precaution  has  been  taken  to  conceal  the  im- 
pardonable  weakness."  ^ 

As  one  might  expect,  the  popular  casuistry  of  Hinduism 
includes  a  certain  amount  of  externalism,  such  as  one  finds  in  the 
moral  codes  of  most  ethnic  religions.  The  following  confession 
of  the  wicked  soul,  taken  from  the  Garuda  Purana,  may  re- 
mind the  reader  somewhat  of  the  Eg\T)tian's  "Negative  Con- 
fession" before  Osiris,^  and  will  show  the  external  nature  of 
much  popular  Indian  morality.  "I  made  no  offerings  to  fire, 
performed  no  penances,  did  not  worship  the  deities,  did  not 
honor  the  assemblies  of  Brahmins,  did  not  visit  the  holy  river, 
never  performed  benevolent  acts.  Alas,  I  did  not  excavate  any 
tanks  in  waterless  places,  did  not  even  a  little  for  the  support 
of  cows  and  Brahmins."  ^ 

The  externalism  which  is  taught  in  much  popular  and 
"Puranic"  morality  is  one  of  the  weakest  points  of  Hinduism, 
and  with  the  less  intelligent  portion  of  the  population  can  hardly 

»  IV,  5-12. 

*  Hindu  Manners,  Customs,  and  Ceremonies  (3d  ed.,  Oxford,  Clarendon 
Press,  1906),  pp.  187-88. 

»  See  The  Book  of  the  Dead,  chap.  125.  Ml,  35-37- 

93 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

fail  to  have  a  decidedly  evil  influence.  What,  for  instance, 
shall  we  expect  of  a  religion  when  in  some  of  its  most  popular 
scriptures  we  can  read  such  assertions  as  these :  — 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  by  the  installation  of  a  Shiva  lingam 
a  man  acquires  ten  million  times  the  merit  which  is  acquired 
by  making  happy  the  poor  and  such  as  are  enfeebled  by  dis- 
ease." ^ 

"The  betrayer  of  friends,  the  ungrateful,  he  who  lies  with 
his  teacher's  wife,  the  slayer  of  a  Brahmin,  all  these  are  ab- 
solved by  the  dedication  of  a  bull."  ^ 

It  is  probably  in  the  popular  Hindu  views  about  sacred 
streams  and  sacred  places  that  this  externalism  most  often 
meets  us  and  seems  most  strikingly  absurd  and  immoral. 
Bathing  in  the  Ganges  at  certain  appointed  times  ^  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  regarded  by  many  Hindus  as  a  great  aid  in  ridding 
one  of  sin  and  in  acquiring  merit;  and  this  belief  of  the  ignorant 
Hindu  is  taught  him  directly  by  his  priest,  who  makes  a  very 
good  living  out  of  it.  There  is  also  a  very  general  belief  — 
taught  in  the  Puranas  and  accepted  by  many  intelligent  and 
educated  Hindus  —  that  to  die  in  Benares  and  have  one's 
ashes  thrown  into  the  Ganges  is  of  considerable  assistance  in 
getting  to  heaven.  That  this  is  really  believed  by  many  culti- 
vated Hindus,  including  rich  people  and  Maharajas,  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  so  many  of  them  come  to  Benares  to  die. 

"When  the  wind  which  has  touched  the  waves  of  the  Ganges 
touches  the  dead,"  says  the  Garuda  Purana,  "his  sin  is  at  once 
destroyed.  There  was  a  certain  hunter,  a  destroyer  of  all  sorts 
of  creatures  [and  therefore,  in  the  Hindu  conception,  a  very 
wicked  man]  who  went  to  the  place  called  hell.  When  his  bones 
were  [accidentally]  dropped  into  the  Ganges  by  a  crow,  he  as- 
cended the  divine  chariot  and  went  to  the  abode  of  the  Shining 
Ones."  * 

1  Mahanirvana  Tantra,  xiv,  6-7.  ^  Garuda  Purana,  xii,  52. 

'  It  is  not  the  daily  bath  in  the  Ganges  that  washes  away  sin;  nor  is  it  be- 
lieved that  one  can  commit  a  sin  to-day  and  wash  it  away  to-morrow.  It  is 
only  the  ritualistic  bath  at  certain  times  and  seasons  and  with  certain 
prayers,  etc.,  that  frees  one  of  sin.  The  daily  bath  is  merely  a  religious  duty: 
one  bathes  because  brought  up  to  bathe  and  because  cleanliness  is  a  very 
large  part  of  godliness;  not  in  order  to  get  rid  of  sin. 

*  X,  83,  85,  86.  Is  this  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  a  dip  in  Ganges  water  dif- 
ferent in  principle  from  the  Christian  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  infant  baptism  ? 

94 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

One  would  expect  that  the  behef  in  the  efficacy  of  bathing  in 
certain  places  would  result  in  an  increase  of  vice  and  crime; 
and  that  therefore  Benares  in  particular  would  be  a  very  wicked 
city.  I  could  not,  however,  discover  that  this  was  the  case. 
Though  I  made  inquiries  on  the  subject  I  found  no  one  who 
maintained  that  Benares  was  wickeder  than  other  cities.  In 
spite  of  which,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  externalism  of  the 
sort  we  have  been  considering  must  inevitably  have  some  ef- 
fect in  weakening  the  moral  struggle  and  cheapening  the  moral 
life. 

Of  course  the  more  intelligent  and  spiritual  Hindus  deplore 
the  externalism  of  their  ignorant  fellows  as  deeply  as  any  one, 
and  regard  it  as  no  more  a  part  of  true  Hinduism  than  the 
veneration  of  ikons  is,  in  the  opinion  of  a  Protestant,  a  part  of 
true  Christianit\\  And  yet  many  acts  and  abstinences,  which 
to  the  European  seem  purely  external  matters,  are  accepted 
even  by  the  intelligent  Hindu  as  a  constituent  part  of  the  moral 
life.  These  are  all  traditional,  of  course;  but  the  Hindu  thinker 
regards  them  as  thoroughly  rational  none  the  less  and  as  be- 
longing ver>'  properly  to  the  field  of  morality'.  And  our  differ- 
ence of  opinion  on  these  particular  points  is  due  to  a  more 
fundamental  difference  of  opinion  on  the  larger  question  of  the 
point  of  view  from  which  the  moral  life  should  be  regarded.  In 
a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  the  Christian  considers  the 
moral  life  a  matter  of  voluntary  activity,  while  the  Hindu  re- 
gards it  as  a  matter  of  habitual  conduct.  The  one  emphasizes 
choice;  the  other,  training.  ''  Of  course,  it  would  be  quite  mis- 
taken to  affirm  that  the  Christian  never  thinks  of  training  and 
habitual  conduct,  or  the  Hindu  of  choice  and  voluntary  activ- 
ity^; but  it  is  true  that  the  Christian  and  the  Hindu  emphases 
lie  in  different  places.  What  interests  the  Hindu  chiefly  is  the 
acquisition  of  self-control ;  and  this  in  his  opinion  is  best  to  be 
attained  by  means  of  an  unremitting  psycho-physical  training 
beginning  with  the  cradle  and  ending  with  the  deathbed.  This 
training  descends  into  the  minutest  details  of  life,  as  well  as 
determining  life's  plan  as  a  whole,  and  hence  includes  many 

Is  it  not  baptism  in  both  cases,  the  one  before  death  and  before  the  attain- 
ment of  reason,  the  other  after?  In  both  cases  it  seems  to  be  the  holy  water 
that  does  the  business. 

95 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

things  which  to  us  seem  purely  "external."  Of  course  they  are 
external;  but  in  the  Hindu's  opinion  the  external  may  often  in- 
fluence the  internal.  "The  injunctions  and  prohibitions  of 
Hinduism  in  regard  to  the  utmost  outer  concerns  of  man's 
life,"  writes  one  Hindu  philosopher,  "have  a  very  salutar>'  ef- 
fect upon  his  character  by  helping  to  strengthen  the  inhibi- 
tive  powers  of  the  will,  as  well  as  by  training  the  individual 
to  perpetually  give  preference  in  his  daily  work  and  recreations 
to  the  good  over  the  pleasant.  .  .  .  You  will  thus  see  that  in 
the  socio-religious  life  of  the  Hindu  there  is  a  much  narrower 
range  for  the  indulgence  of  the  senses  and  the  appetites  than 
there  is,  perhaps,  in  any  other  system.  The  Hindu  has  to  sub- 
mit to  much  greater  restraints  even  in  what  are  regarded  as 
quite  legitimate  enjoyments  everywhere,  than  the  votaries  of 
the  other  great  world-religions.  ...  It  is  by  these  means  that 
the  general  socio-religious  scheme  of  the  Hindus  helps  materi- 
ally to  advance  the  real  ethical  life  of  the  people.  It  is  to  these 
that  we  owe  all  the  real  humility  of  our  national  character. 
Our  proverbial  patience  and  mildness;  our  admitted  respect 
for  all  life,  both  human  and  non-human;  our  special  spiritual 
aptitudes,  and  our  general  freedom  from  some  of  the  most  ob- 
trusive vices  of  civilized  humanity;  all  these  are  largely  due  to 
these  socio-religious  institutions  and  physico-ethical  disciplines 
associated  with  them  which  are  so  often  dismissed  by  the  mod- 
ern man  both  in  Europe  and  even  in  India,  as  mere  super- 
stitions." ^ 

The  aim  of  this  psycho-physical  training  is  the  achievement 
of  perfect  self-control,  the  mastery  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh, 
and  the  destruction  of  particular  and  selfish  interests  and  de- 
sires. For  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  goal  toward 
which  Hindu  ethics  points,  and  in  the  light  of  which  every- 
thing else  must  be  valued,  is  liberation  and  realization.  And 
nothing  so  hinders  the  realization  of  the  Universal  Self  as  the 
hot  desires  and  the  petty  interests  of  the  particular  self.  Hence 
the  one  great  virtue  of  India  is  selflessness.  Of  course  the  rank 
and  file  never  get  far  enough  on  the  moral  pathway  to  aim  at 
this  virtue  directly ;  but  they  recognize  its  charm  and  they  rev- 
erence it  supremely  wherever  they  find  it.  Neither  rich  man  nor 
^  Bipin  Chandra  Pal  in  The  Soul  of  India,  pp.  248,  252,  254. 
96 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

Rajah  arouses  in  their  hearts  such  genuine  admiration  as  does 
the  sannyasi  who  has  renounced  the  world  and  given  up  every 
selfish  interest  in  complete  resignation  to  the  divine  will.  Nor 
is  there  any  other  virtue  which  the  best  of  their  sacred  books 
and  the  best  of  their  spiritual  teachers  so  repeatedly  emphasize. 
"Hateless  toward  all  born  beings,"  says  Sri  Krishna  in  the 
Gita,  "friendly  and  pitiful,  void  of  a  thought  of  a  mine  and  an 
7,  bearing  indiflferently  pain  and  pleasure,  patient,  ever  content, 
the  Man  of  the  Rule  subdued  of  spirit  and  steadfast  of  purpose, 
who  has  his  mind  and  understanding  fixed  on  Me  and  wor- 
ships Me,  is  dear  to  Me."  ' 

Almost  synonymous  with  selflessness  is  indifference,  which 
has  been  so  exalted  by  all  the  religions  native  to  India.  "One 
indifferent  to  foe  and  to  friend,  indifferent  in  honor  and  in  dis- 
honor, in  heat  and  in  cold,  in  joy  and  in  pain,  free  of  attach- 
ment, who  holds  in  equal  account  blame  and  praise,  silent, 
content  with  whatsoever  befall,  homeless,  firm  of  judgment, 
possessed  of  devotion,  is  a  man  dear  to  Me."  ^  Evil  and  foolish 
men,  on  the  other  hand,  are  those  who  are  ever  thinking:  "This 
desire  to-day  have  /  won;  this  will  /  attain;  this  wealth  is  mine, 
this  likewise  shall  afterward  be  mine.  This  foe  have  I  slain; 
others  likewise  shall  /  slay.  /  am  sovran,  I  am  in  enjoyment;  I 
am  successful,  strong,  happy;  7  am  wealthy,  noble;  what  other 
man  is  like  to  me?  7  will  make  offerings  and  give  alms;  7  shall 
rejoice."  "Turned  to  the  thought  of  I,  to  force,  pride,  desire, 
and  wrath,  they  jealously  bear  hate  against  Me  in  their  own 
and  in  other  bodies."  ^ 

Forget  yourself!  Give  up  yourself!  Root  out  every  selfish  im- 
pulse and  desire.  This  is  the  ever-repeated  message  of  India. 
"Live  in  the  world  like  a  dead  leaf,"  says  Ramakrishna.  "As 
a  dead  leaf  is  carried  by  the  wind  into  a  house  or  on  the  road- 
side and  has  no  choice  of  its  own,  so  let  the  wind  of  the  Divine 
Will  blow  you  wherever  it  chooses.  Now  it  has  placed  you  in 
the  world,  be  contented.  Again,  when  it  will  carry  you  to  a 
better  place,  be  equally  resigned.  The  Lord  has  kept  you  in 
the  world,  what  can  you  do?  Resign  everything  to  Him,  even 
your  own  dear  self;  then  all  trouble  will  be  over.   You  will  see 

1  Bhagavad  Gita.  xn,  13  and  14.  »  Ibid.,  xil,  18,  19. 

3  Ihid.,  XVI,  13-15.  18. 

97 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

then  that  He  is  doing  everything:  everywhere  is  the  will  of 
God."  ' 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  this  sincere  and  earnest 
desire  for  unselfishness  —  a  desire  manifest  not  only  in  the 
various  divisions  of  Hinduism  but  in  nearly  all  the  religions 
native  to  India  —  should  be  so  often  self-defeating.  From  the 
attempt  to  regard  unselfishness  as  itself  a  goal,  there  results,  in 
most  minds,  an  almost  irresistible  tendency  to  consider  this 
mental  state  a  means  of  acquiring  merit ;  and  so  the  self  is  often 
denied  in  order  that  the  self  may  be  glorified.  Psychologically 
this  is  due,  I  suppose,  to  the  innate  difficulty  of  making  a  nega- 
tive quantity  the  object  of  desire.  Whether  this  is  ever  really 
possible  or  not,  certain  it  is  that  real  unselfishness  of  a  per- 
manent and  reliable  type  is  very  much  more  easily  attainable 
by  aiming  at  a  positive  goal,  especially  by  seeking  actively  to 
forward  some  great  cause,  the  individual  self  being  thus  lost 
in  the  not-self  —  or  in  the  larger  self. 

Hindu  teaching  (until  the  last  few  years,  at  any  rate)  has 
never  felt  satisfied  with  the  unselfishness  which  is  to  be  found 
in  active  social  service,  and  so  has  deprived  itself  of  the  greatest 
aid  to  true  devotion.  The  best  substitute  it  has  for  this  is  the 
bhakta's  intense  love  of  God,  and  the  philosopher's  doctrine 
of  the  identity  of  the  soul  with  Brahman.  Hinduism  teaches 
that  the  desires  and  interests  of  the  separate  self,  of  the  ap- 
parent self  as  one  might  call  it,  must  be  suppressed  in  order  that 
the  true  self  may  be  liberated,  and  its  unity  with  the  Universal 
and  Divine  may  be  realized.  The  more  positive  aspect  of  this 
effort  is  the  persistent  attempt  to  realize  God  in  everything  and 
in  every  one.  And  he  who  succeeds  in  doing  this  will  find  a 
universal  love  and  sympathy  springing  up  in  his  heart,  and  will 
have  a  reason  very  literally  for  loving  his  neighbor  as  himself, 
because  in  the  last  analysis  he  and  his  neighbor  are  one  in  God. 
Says  the  Mahabharata :  — 

"This  is  the  sum  of  all  true  righteousness  — 
Treat  others  as  thou  wouldst  thyself  be  treated. 
Do  nothing  to  thy  neighbor  which  hereafter 
Thou  wouldst  not  have  thy  neighbor  do  to  thee. 
In  causing  pleasure  or  in  giving  pain, 

1  The  Gospel  of  Ramakrishna,  pp.  89-90. 
98 


DUTY   AND  DESTINY 

In  doing  good  or  injury  to  others, 

In  granting  or  refusing  a  request, 

A  man  obtains  a  proper  rule  of  action 

By  looking  on  his  neighbor  as  himself. ' '  '■ 

"We  shall  see  as  we  study  morality,"  says  the  "Textbook 
of  Hindu  Religion  and  Ethics,"  "that  all  its  precepts  are 
founded  on  the  recognition  of  the  unity  of  the  Self.  If  there  is 
only  one  Self,  any  act  by  which  I  injure  my  neighbor  must  in- 
jure me."  It  is  related  of  Baba  Arjundas,  a  much-revered 
Hindu  saint  who  died  only  a  few  years  ago,  that  at  the  Allaha- 
bad Mela  of  1895  he  was  found  by  an  acquaintance  weeping 
and  calling  out  that  a  policemen  had  been  beating  him.  Such 
an  outrage  was  unthinkable  in  India,  but  the  old  gentleman 
was  asked  to  point  out  the  policeman  who  had  committed  the 
cowardly  sacrilege.  At  last  he  did  so,  but,  seeming  to  come 
back  to  himself,  he  added:  "It  was  not  this  me  that  he  beat, 
but  another  me."  -  The  truly  moral  Hindu  should  have  become 
so  selfless  as  to  be  almost  unable  to  distinguish  between  himself 
and  other  selves.  And  this  sympathy  of  his  should  be  literally 
boundless,  extending  far  even  beyond  humanity  and  including 
within  its  loving  embrace  ever>'  form  of  sentient  life.  For  the 
animals  too  are  souls,  and  every  soul  is  ultimateK'  a  spark  of 
the  Divine  Fire. 

This  view  of  the  identity  of  the  self  with  God  weakens,  to 
a  considerable  degree,  the  belief  in  personal  responsibility  and 
the  sense  of  it.  Here  is  another  aspect  of  the  contrast  already 
pointed  out  between  Hindu  and  Christian  ethics.  The  Chris- 
tian moralist  lays  his  emphasis  upon  the  responsibility  of  every 
soul  in  all  his  choices.  The  Hindu  is  seeking  chiefly  to  cultivate 
certain  habitual  reactions,  points  of  view,  and  emotional  moods, 
and  gives  comparatively  little  attention  to  responsibility  and 
choice.  In  fact,  if  he  be  a  follower  of  Shankara's  monistic 
Vedanta,  he  will  admit  frankly  that  he  has  no  such  thing  as 
choice  and  that  free  will  is  only  an  illusion.  The  bhaktas  or 
members  of  the  great  sects,  on  the  other  hand,  may  and  often 
do  believe  in  freedom.    The  Bhagavad  Gita  throughout  pre- 

1  XIII,  5571,  translated  by  Monier  Williams,  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism, 
PP-  547-48- 

*  The  Soul  of  India,  p.  47. 

99 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

supposes  the  reality  of  free  choice.  Ramanuja's  systematiza- 
tion  of  the  Vedanta,  to  be  sure,  makes  the  human  soul  a  part  of 
God  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  God,  not  man,  who  makes  the 
choice  and  does  whatever  is  done.  But  after  Ramanuja's  death, 
his  followers  divided  on  this  question  of  free  will,  the  southern 
party  denying  it  while  the  northerners  affirmed  it.^ 

The  Vedantist  and  the  bhakta  differ  not  only  on  the  ques- 
tion of  free  will,  but  also  on  the  kind  of  salvation  that  they  de- 
sire. Both  seek  "realization,"  but  the  relation  to  God,  the  kind 
of  union  or  communion  with  God,  which  they  strive  for,  is  not 
quite  the  same  for  both.  "The  follower  of  the  monistic  Ve- 
danta," says  Ramakrishna,  "who  seeks  to  realize  the  Absolute 
Brahman  discriminates,  saying:  'Not  this,  not  this.'  That  is, 
the  Absolute  is  not  this,  not  that,  nor  any  finite  object,  not  the 
individual  soul  [as  such],  not  the  external  world  [for  this  is 
Maya,  Illusion].  When  as  a  result  of  this  kind  of  reasoning  the 
heart  ceases  to  be  moved  by  desires,  when,  in  fact,  the  mind 
is  merged  in  superconsciousness,  then  Brahman-knowledge  is 
reached.  One  who  has  truly  attained  to  this  Brahman-knowl- 
edge realizes  that  Brahman,  the  Absolute,  alone  is  real  and  the 
world  is  unreal,  and  that  all  names  and  forms  are  like  dreams. 
The  dualist  devotees  and  lovers  of  the  Personal  God,  —  the 
bhaktas,  —  on  the  contrary,  say  that  the  external  world  is  the 
glory  of  the  Lord.  The  heavens,  stars,  moon,  mountains,  ocean, 
men,  birds,  and  beasts,  all  these  He  has  created.  He  manifests 
His  glory  by  these.  He  is  both  within  and  without.  He  dwells 
in  our  hearts.  A  bhakta  wishes  to  enjoy  communion  with  his 
Lord  and  not  to  become  identical  with  Him.  His  desire  is  not  to 
become  sugar,  but  to  taste  of  sugar.  He  says,  '  O  Lord,  Thou 
art  the  Master,  I  am  Thy  servant.  Thou  art  my  Mother  and 
I  am  Thy  child.  Thou  art  the  Whole,  I  am  Thy  part.'  He  does 
not  wish  to  say,  T  am  Brahman.'"  - 

The  pathways  to  these  contrasted  goals,  of  course,  also  differ. 
The  Vedantist  takes  the  way  of  inaction  and  knowledge,  the 
bhakta  the  way  of  devotion.   It  has  been  a  tradition  —  almost 

*  Rather  picturesquely  the  two  schools  are  known  respectively  as  the 
"cat  school"  and  the  "monkey  school":  for  the  kitten  is  quite  passive  and 
has  to  be  carried  by  its  mother,  while  the  little  monkey  actively  clings  to  its 
mother  with  its  arms  about  her  neck. 

*  The  Gospel  of  Ramakrishna,  pp.  146-48. 

100 


DUTY   AND  DESTINY 

a  truism  —  with  the  conservative  school  of  Indian  thinkers  for 
twenty-five  hundred  years  that  every  sort  of  action,  no  matter 
what  its  moral  quality,  inevitably  accumulates  karma,  and 
therefore  hinders  and  delays  the  liberation  of  the  soul.  Hence 
the  ideal  method  for  him  who  is  in  earnest  in  the  great  busi- 
ness of  life  is  to  retire  from  all  active  occupations,  refrain  from 
ever>^  kind  of  work,  and  give  up  his  whole  time  to  meditation 
and  the  acquisition  of  "Brahman-knowledge."  The  bhaktas 
with  whom  the  ideas  originated  that  get  their  classic  expres- 
sion in  the  Gita,  while  admitting  that  the  way  of  inaction  and 
knowledge  if  carefully  followed  would  lead  to  salvation,  pointed 
out  a  simpler  and  a  better  way.  It  is,  they  said,  not  work  itself 
and  as  such  which  binds  one  down  to  this  world,  but  the  spirit 
in  which  the  work  is  done.  The  whole  question  is  thus  psy- 
chological ;  and  the  struggle  is  removed  altogether  to  the  inner 
sphere.  The  thing  that  binds  the  soul  in  slavery  to  the  flesh 
and  to  this  evil  world  is  the  worldly  state  of  mind.  Hence  it  is 
perfectly  possible  to  do  all  one's  duties  as  a  member  of  society 
and  still  avoid  the  accumulation  of  new  karma,  provided  one's 
aim  in  so  doing  be  altogether  selfless.  "Do  thine  ordained 
work:  for  work  is  more  excellent  than  no-work."  "In  Works 
be  thine  office:  in  their  fruits  must  it  never  be.  Be  not  moved 
by  the  fruits  of  Works :  but  let  not  attachment  to  worklessness 
dwell  in  thee.  Abiding  under  the  Rule  and  casting  off  attach- 
ment, so  do  thy  work,  indifferent  alike  whether  thou  gain  or 
gain  not."  ^ 

If  we  add  to  this  inner  state  of  selflessness  the  more  positive 
injunction  of  faith  in  the  personal  God  and  warm  love  and 
devotion  to  Him  and  to  His  incarnations,  we  shall  understand 
the  way  of  salvation  which  has  been  preached  and  practiced 
by  the  Indian  bhaktas  from  the  beginning  of  our  era  down  to 
our  own  days.  And  as  the  reader  will  see,  there  is  considerable 
similarity  between  this  and  the  Christian  view.  This  similarity 
is  gladly  recognized  by  many  Indians.  Enthusiastic  followers 
of  Ramanuja  sincerely  say  to  the  missionary:  "We  are  one  at 
heart.  The  oneness  of  God,  the  spirituality  of  God,  salvation 
by  the  grace  of  God  and  by  His  grace  alone,  God  taking  human 
form  to  save  our  souls,  salvation  as  deliverance  from  the  bond- 
»  Bhagavad  Gita,  ni,  8;  n,  47,  48. 
10 1 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

age  of  sin  and  selfishness  —  all  these  points  are  common  to  both 
parties."  ^ 

In  spite  of  these  resemblances,  however,  there  are  also  dif- 
ferences between  the  Christian  and  the  Hindu  points  of  view 
quite  as  fundamental.  One  concerns  the  metaphysical  ques- 
tion of  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  God:  for  though  Ramanuja 
leaves  the  soul  some  degree  of  individuality,  it  has  the  same 
relation  to  God  that  our  bodies  have  to  our  souls.  But  a  more 
important  and  practical  difference  is  to  be  found  in  the  moral 
ideals  of  the  two  religions.  For  the  Indian  ideal,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  almost  altogether  a  subjective  one.  The  Hindu's  gaze 
has  been  so  concentrated  on  the  realization  of  his  own  union 
with  God  that  he  has  almost  never  had  any  time  to  think  seri- 
ously of  bringing  about  a  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth.  The 
idea  that  the  end  of  action  could  be  found  in  social  values,  that 
"  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  in  your  midst,"  is  a  conception  which 
has  seldom  presented  itself  to  his  mind  except  to  be  rejected  and 
scorned.  As  a  result  of  this  preeminently  subjective  point  of 
view  in  Indian  ethics,  strenuous  activity  for  a  great  charitable 
or  social  cause  has  almost  always  been  looked  at  rather  askance 
even  by  the  finest  and  most  truly  sympathetic  of  Hindu  saints. 
There  have  been  exceptions,  but  the  exceptions  were  very  un- 
Indian  in  type.  Ramakrishna,  who  was  certainly  one  of  the  fin- 
est examples  of  Hindu  spirituality  of  whom  we  know  anything, 
said  to  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  "You  talk  glibly  of  doing  good  to 
the  world.  Who  are  you  to  do  good  to  the  world?  First  prac- 
tice devotional  exercises  and  realize  God.  Attain  to  Him.  If 
He  graciously  gives  you  His  powers,  then  you  can  help  others, 
and  not  till  then.  .  .  .  Say  when  you  pray: '  Lord,  grant  that  my 
work  in  the  world  and  for  the  world  may  grow  less  and  less  day 
by  day,  for  I  see  that  my  work  growing  manifold  only  makes 
me  lose  sight  of  Thee.*  ...  A  man  desired  to  see  the  shrine  of 
the  Divine  Mother.  On  his  way  he  stopped  and  spent  all  the 
day  in  distributing  alms  to  the  poor.  When  he  went  to  the 
shrine,  the  door  was  closed  and  he  could  not  see  the  Holy  of 
Holies.  The  wise  ones  should  first  see  the  Holy  Mother,  and 
seeing  Her  they  may  then  turn  their  attention  to  almsgiving 
and  other  good  works  if  they  so  desire.  All  good  works  are  for 
1  Mr.  Froelich  in  the  Indian  Interpreter  for  July,  1912. 
102 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

the  realization  of  God.  Works  are  the  means,  and  God-vision 
is  the  end."  ^ 

"God-vision  is  the  end."  And  what  is  it?  Ah,  that  is  some- 
thing which  may  be  experienced,  but  which  in  its  fullness  can 
never  be  described.  In  fact,  he  who  once  plunges  into  the  depths 
of  the  Infinite  Ocean  of  the  Divine  never  comes  back  to  describe 
what  he  has  seen.  '  *  Sukadeva  and  other  great  spiritual  teachers 
stood  on  the  shore  of  that  Infinite  Ocean,  saw  it  and  touched  its 
waters.  Some  believe  that  even  those  great  souls  did  not  go 
into  the  Ocean,  for  whoever  enters  into  that  Ocean  of  Brahman 
does  not  return  to  this  mundane  existence.  A  doll  made  of 
salt  once  went  to  the  ocean  to  measure  its  depth.  It  had  a  de- 
sire to  tell  others  how  deep  the  ocean  was.  Alas!  its  desire  was 
never  satisfied.  No  sooner  had  it  plunged  into  the  ocean  than 
it  melted  away  and  became  one  with  the  ocean.  Who  could 
bring  the  news  regarding  the  depth  of  the  sea?  Such  also  is  the 
condition  of  the  soul  who  enters  into  the  Infinite  Ocean  of  the 
Absolute  Brahman."  ^ 

Yet  it  is  possible  to  stand  by  the  side  of  the  Endless  Sea, 
touch  and  taste  its  waters  and  hear  its  thunder  and  return 
home  again  with  some  faint  words  descriptive  of  what  one  has 
seen.  So  one  may  gain  a  vision  of  the  Divine  and  still  live  on 
in  the  world  of  men.  "Cry  to  God  with  a  yearning  heart," 
says  Ramakrishna,  "and  then  you  will  see  Him.  The  rosy  light 
of  dawn  comes  before  the  rising  sun:  likewise  a  longing  and 
yearning  heart  is  the  sign  of  God-vision  that  comes  after." 

The  realization  of  God's  presence  in  one's  heart  has  been 
the  unfading  and  unchanging  ideal  of  India  these  twent>'-five 
hundred  years  and  it  is  to-day.  That  exclusive  longing  for  it 
has  shut  froan  the  Hindu's  view  various  social  values  and  practi- 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  170-72.  A  learned  and  enthusiastic  Brahmin  whom  I  met 
on  a  train  preached  me  an  impromptu  and  rather  beautiful  sermon  on  the 
way  of  salvation.  Among  other  things  he  said:  "The  chief  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  freedom  are  self-interest,  the  impulse  to  destroy  others,  and  conceit. 
Of  these  conceit  is  perhaps  the  most  insidious.  It  often  takes  the  form  of 
our  thinking  ourselves  able  to  help  others  —  hence  as  being  superior  to 
others.  This  we  must  root  out.  We  should  never  seek  to  do  good  to  others 
for  the  others'  sake,  but  only  for  our  own  sakes,  as  a  step  in  our  own  salva- 
tion; for  to  seek  to  do  them  good  for  their  own  sakes  [objectively]  would 
involve  conceit  on  our  part." 

*  Ibid.,  p.  109. 

103 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

cal  altruistic  aims  we  have  already  seen.  Aside  from  this,  its 
negative  aspect,  how  we  shall  evaluate  this  supreme  ideal  of 
India  will  depend  for  each  of  us  on  his  attitude  toward  mys- 
ticism in  general.  To  the  purely  practical  man  this  "realiza- 
tion of  the  Divine"  will,  no  doubt,  be  a  stumbling-block,  and  to 
the  materialistic  scientist  it  will  be  but  foolishness;  while  to 
them  who  believe  in  a  transcendent  yet  immanent  spiritual 
world,  it  will  be  as  the  Power  of  God  and  the  Wisdom  of  God. 
Doubtless  it  is  easy  and  often  natural  for  us  to  say  to  the 
sannyasi  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  that  his  "realization"  is 
mere  fancy  and  self-delusion,  and  nothing,  nothing  more.  He 
has  been  told  that  many  times.  But  ever  he  and  with  him  the 
whole  army  of  mystics  respond,  as  Faust  to  Mephistopheles:  — 

"In  deinem  Nichts  hoff'  ich  das  All  zufinden." 

So  much  for  the  Indian  ideal  and  the  means  for  its  achieve- 
ment; so  much  for  the  soul's  duty.  What  of  its  destiny?  "If 
a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?"  This  very  human  cry  in  the 
face  of  the  Great  Mystery  has  resounded  through  India  as 
through  all  other  lands  these  thousands  of  years.  Perhaps 
seven  centuries  before  Christ  it  was  phrased  in  the  Upanishads 
in  a  form  strikingly  like  that  in  which  it  was  repeated  a  little 
later  by  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  Job  in  distant  Israel.  "Like 
a  mighty  tree  in  the  forest,  so  in  truth  is  man.  But  while  a  tree, 
when  felled,  grows  up  again  more  young  from  the  root,  from 
what  root,  tell  me,  does  a  mortal  grow  up,  after  he  has  been 
felled  by  death?"  ^ 

Another  of  the  Upanishads  tells  us  that  when  little  Nachi- 
ketas  went  to  the  House  of  Death,  the  Terrible  One  was  pleased 
with  the  boy  and  told  him  to  ask  three  boons,  promising  to 
grant  them  whatever  they  might  be.  The  boy's  first  and  second 
requests  do  not  here  concern  us,  but  in  the  third  he  said :  — 

"There  is  that  doubt,  when  a  man  is  dead,  —  some  saying 
he  is;  others  he  is  not.  This  I  should  like  to  know,  taught  by 
thee;  this  is  the  third  of  my  boons." 

Death  said:  "Choose  another  boon,  O  Nachiketas,  do  not 

press  me;  let  me  off  that  boon.     Choose  sons  and  grandsons, 

who  shall  live  a  hundred  years,  herds  of  cattle,  elephants,  gold, 

1  Brihad.  Up.,  ni,  9,  28. 

104 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

horses.  Choose  the  wide  abode  of  the  earth  and  live  thyself  as 
many  harvests  as  thou  desirest.  If  you  can  think  of  any  boon 
equal  to  that,  choose  wealth  and  long  life.  Be  king,  Nachiketas, 
on  the  wide  earth;  but  do  not  ask  me  about  dying." 

Nachiketas  said:  "These  things  last  till  to-morrow,  O 
Death.  Even  the  whole  of  life  is  short.  Keep  thou  thy  horses, 
keep  dance  and  song  for  thyself.  No  man  can  be  made  happy 
by  wealth.  Shall  we  possess  wealth  when  we  see  Thee?  Only 
that  boon  which  I  have  chosen  is  to  be  chosen  by  me.  That  on 
which  there  is  this  doubt,  O  Death,  tell  us  what  there  is  in  the 
great  Hereafter.  Nachiketas  does  not  choose  another  boon  but 
that  which  enters  into  the  hidden  world." 

So  at  last  Death  answered:  "The  knowing  Self  is  not  born; 
it  dies  not :  it  sprang  from  nothing,  nothing  sprang  from  it.  The 
ancient  is  unborn,  eternal,  everlasting:  he  is  not  killed  though 
the  body  is  killed.  If  the  slayer  think  that  he  slays,  or  if  the 
slain  think  he  is  slain,  they  do  not  understand,  for  this  one  does 
not  slay  nor  is  that  one  slain.  The  Self,  smaller  than  small, 
greater  than  great,  is  hidden  in  the  heart  of  that  creature.  A 
man  who  is  free  from  desires  and  free  from  grief  sees  the  majesty 
of  the  Self  by  the  grace  of  the  great  Creator.  The  wise  who 
knows  the  Self  as  bodiless  within  the  bodies,  as  unchanging 
among  changing  things,  as  great  and  omnipresent,  does  not 
grieve."  ^ 

This  message  which  Death  gave  to  little  Nachiketas  over 
twenty-five  hundred  years  ago  has  never  been  forgotten  in 
India.  Never  forgotten  and  I  might  almost  add  never  doubted. 
"The  knowing  Self  is  not  born;  it  dies  not."  There  can  be  no 
question  that  the  belief  in  immortality  is  very  much  stronger 
and  very  much  more  prevalent  in  India  than  it  is  in  Europe  or 
America.  Almost  every  one  accepts  it,  takes  it  as  a  matter  of 
course  and  plans  his  life  in  reference  to  it.  Can  we  say  the  same 
of  Christendom?  Ask  the  man  you  meet  on  the  street  or  in  the 
train.  He  will  be  likely  to  tell  you  that  this  is  the  life  he  is  sure 
about  and  interested  in;  and  he  will  probably  add,  "  I  'm  taking 
a  chance  on  the  next  life."  In  India  they  are  taking  no  chances 
on  the  next  life :  it  is  this  one  rather  that  seems  to  them  uncer- 
tain. 

1  Katha  Up.,  i,  i  and  2. 
105 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

One  reason  for  this  greater  faith  of  India  is  probably  to  be 
found  in  the  absence  of  Western  education  and  the  doubts 
which  it  sows.  But  it  is  also  due  in  part,  I  believe,  to  the  dif- 
ferent views  of  the  nature  of  the  soul  and  the  nature  of  its 
immortality  held  by  Christianity  and  by  Hinduism.  In  Chris- 
tian teaching  the  life  of  the  soul  has  a  natural  beginning  and  a 
supernatural  prolongation.  The  natural  thing  would  be  for 
the  soul  to  die  with  the  body,  with  which  it  began;  this  I  think 
is  the  general  feeling,  fine-spun  arguments  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. The  survival  of  bodily  death  by  the  soul  is  al- 
ways more  or  less  of  a  miracle  and  needs  supernatural  expla- 
nation. If  it  were  not  for  Christ,  or  at  least  for  God,  we  as 
Christians  should  hardly  hope  for  immortalit>'.  Many  of  us 
can  with  difficulty  conceive  how  an  atheist  could  believe  in 
the  future  life. 

Modern  Western  psychology  increases  this  tendency  by  its 
teaching  of  the  dependence  of  the  mind  on  the  nervous  system 
and  by  its  \iew  of  the  "soul"  as  equivalent  merely  to  the 
"stream  of  consciousness."  Thus  the  belief  in  the  survival  of 
bodily  death  is  made  to  seem  increasingly  unnatural  and  de- 
mands more  than  ever  some  supernatural  support.  And  at  the 
same  time  with  this  scientific  development,  the  old  supernat- 
ural supports  are  being  noticeably  and  rapidly  weakened.  The 
result  is  the  open  denial  of  human  immortality  on  the  part  of  a 
considerable  number  of  earnest  thinkers  and  by  an  even  larger 
number  of  persons  who  wish  to  be  considered  thinkers:  while 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  rest  of  us  feel  so  uncertain  if  not 
downright  skeptical  on  the  subject  that  we  avoid  discussion  of 
it  and  side-track  so  far  as  possible  all  reference  to  it.  We  are 
"taking  a  chance  on  the  next  life,"  and  find  it  hardly  good 
form  to  talk  much  about  it. 

This  is  not  the  case  in  India.  There,  as  I  have  said,  practically 
ever>'  one  believes  in  immortality'.  They  live  in  the  light  of  it. 
Paraphrasing  Browning's  lines,  they  might  almost  say:  — 

"Leave  now  for  dogs,  apes,  and  Europeans; 
We  have  forever." 

There  are  atheistic  philosophers  in  India,  but  these  maintain 
the  deathlessness  of  the  soul  as  confidently  and  enthusiasti- 
io6 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

cally  as  do  the  thelsts  and  Vedantists.  For  in  India  the  belief 
in  the  soul's  immortality  is  based  not  upon  God  nor  upon  any 
supernatural  interference  or  influence,  but  on  the  very  nature 
of  the  soul  itself.  Its  survival  of  the  death  of  the  body  is  in  no 
way  miraculous,  for  it  did  not  begin  with  the  body  nor  is  it 
dependent  upon  the  body.  It  is  not  a  "stream  of  conscious- 
ness," a  "bundle  or  collection  of  different  perceptions,"  as 
Hume  called  it.  It  is  a  knowing  subject,  a  real  and  potential 
character.  Existence  is  part  of  its  nature.  It  will  never  cease 
to  be  because  it  never  began  to  be.  If  you  admit  a  beginning 
for  it,  you  give  up  the  whole  argument.  What  begins  must  in 
the  course  of  nature  end  —  as  the  Buddha  pointed  out  long 
ago.  But  "  the  knowing  Self  is  not  born;  it  dies  not.  It  sprang 
from  nothing;  nothing  sprang  from  it."  "Never  have  I  not 
been,"  says  Sri  Krishna  to  Arjun;  "never  hast  thou  not  been, 
and  never  shall  time  yet  come  when  we  shall  not  all  be.  Of 
what  is  not  there  cannot  be  being;  of  what  is  there  cannot  be 
ought  but  being."  ^ 

It  would  seem  that  the  conception  of  the  soul  as  the  "know- 
ing Self,"  together  with  a  belief  in  its  eternity  backward  as  well 
as  forward,  its  essential  eternity,  were  necessary  to  make  the 
belief  in  immortality  natural  and  independent  of  any  God  or 
any  supernatural  influence  or  assistance.  But  such  a  concep- 
tion, of  course,  involves  some  hypothesis  as  to  the  story  of  the 
soul  through  its  long  preexistence  and  the  goal  that  it  seeks  in 
its  long  future.  A  cosmic  conception  that  will  do  this  and  at 
the  same  time  take  up  into  itself  all  the  empirical  facts  of  this 
present  life,  will  inevitably  make  a  strong  appeal  to  many 
minds.  And,  as  the  reader  knows,  the  Indian  conception  of 
Transmigration  does  just  this. 

Everybody  in  the  West  knows  about  transmigration,  and 
almost  everybody  takes  it  as  a  joke.  It  means  (so  most  people 
will  tell  you)  that  when  we  die,  we're  going  to  be  reborn  as 
pigs  or  insects;  just  as  people  will  still  assure  you  that  evolu- 
tion "means"  that  our  ancestors  were  monkeys.  Now,  it  is 
doubtless  true  that  the  theory  of  evolution  does  trace  our  an- 
cestry back  to  the  apes;  but  to  identify  this  great  cosmic  view 
with  a  particular  statement  as  to  certain  of  your  ancestors  and 
1  Bhagavad  Gita,  n,  12  and  16. 
107 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

mine  argues  a  complete  failure  to  grasp  the  real  significance  of 
the  fundamental  hypothesis  of  modern  biology.  And  in  like 
manner,  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  does  teach  that  men 
who  have  prostrated  their  moral  sense  and  their  reason  and 
have  sinned  against  the  light  in  this  life  will  be  given  in  their 
next  birth  a  body  more  suitable  to  their  nature  than  the  human 
form  divine;  but  to  take  this  particular  assertion  as  the  essen- 
tial part  of  a  cosmic  scheme  that  seeks  to  include  all  destiny 
from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  token  of 
surprising  ignorance  or  else  a  very  poor  joke. 

To  put  it  in  a  word,  transmigration  means  ediccativn.  It  is  an 
attempt  to  view  the  whole  cosmic  process  in  the  light  of  the 
soul's  purification  and  progress.  It  is  based  upon  the  pro- 
foundly ethical  postulate  that  in  the  moral  sphere  no  less  than 
in  the  physical,  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also 
reap.  Ever>'  meanest  act  produces  its  inevitable  result  in  fu- 
ture character  and  future  fate.  The  cosmos  takes  account  of 
moral  deserts,  so  that  the  deed  and  the  deed's  requital  are  one 
and  the  same  act.  Reward  and  punishment  are  thus  not  some- 
thing external  to  the  act,  imposed  from  without  upon  the  actor 
by  an  external  judge:  they  are  the  inevitable  fruit  of  the  act 
itself,  and  in  very  truth  a  part  of  it.  Man's  fate  is  not  imposed 
upon  him  by  a  stem  or  gracious  Ruler  of  the  universe:  in  the 
words  of  an  ancient  Greek  philosopher,  "man's  character  is  his 
destiny." 

The  Hindu  calls  the  great  law  that  a  man  inevitably  reaps 
what  he  sows,  the  Law  of  Karma.  He  also  uses  the  word 
karma  to  mean  the  merits  and  demerits  which  one  acquires  by 
his  good  and  evil  acts.  When  a  man  dies  he  has  a  certain 
amount  of  karma  which  he  carries  with  him  and  which  must 
somehow  be  worked  off.  Part  of  this  is  got  rid  of,  so  to  speak, 
in  the  intermediary  state  which  Hindu  doctrine  places  be- 
tween successive  lives  on  earth.  The  details  of  this  doctrine 
are  complex  and  need  not  detain  us  here.  They  involve  the 
conception  of  the  various  "sheaths"  of  the  soul  already  re- 
ferred to.  Some  of  these  stay  with  one  through  "Pretaloka," 
a  kind  of  purgatory  to  which  man  goes  after  death,  and  where 
after  purging  away  some  of  his  evil  karma  he  puts  off  one  more 
of  his  sheaths.  "  Pitriloka"  is  his  next  place  of  abode,  and  from 
I08 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

there  he  goes  to  "Svarga,"  where  he  dwells  in  happiness  and 
"  changes  the  good  thoughts  and  desires  of  his  past  life  on  earth 
into  definite  mental  moods  or  capacities  [just  as  he  has  done 
in  this  world,  only  that  in  Svarga  it  is  done  much  more  effec- 
tively]. When  the  thought  impulses  started  during  life  are 
finally  exhausted,  he  returns  to  another  incarnation  on  this 
earth.  His  mental  and  emotional  capacities  are  reborn  with 
him  in  the  next  birth,  forming  what  is  called  character."  ^  And 
not  only  the  man's  character  but  his  external  condition  in  his 
new  incarnation  is  determined  by  his  old  karma.  Thus,  not 
only  in  the  intermediate  states  but  in  the  new  earthly  life  he  is 
still  working  out  the  old  karma;  and  while  doing  so  he  is,  of 
course,  acquiring  new  karma.  So  that,  as  some  one  has  said, 
karma  is  like  a  clock  that  winds  itself  up  by  the  ver>'  process  of 
running  down. 

There  is,  however,  a  way  of  release  from  this  wheel  of  re- 
birth,—  namely,  the  means  toward  "liberation"  and  "reali- 
zation" studied  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter.  The  world  is 
like  a  great  school.  In  each  class  we  stay  till  we  have  learned 
our  lesson.  Those  who  do  not  learn  must  return  the  next  year, 
so  to  speak,  and  take  the  course  over  again.  Some,  in  fact,  who 
do  ver\'  badly  are  even  sent  back  to  a  lower  class.  But  those 
who  earnestly  try  are  promoted  from  class  to  class.  And  at 
last  comes  graduation  day.  By  means  of  self -master^'  and 
selflessness,  by  knowledge  or  devotion,  we  may  finally  be  freed 
from  all  karma  and  enter  into  the  perfect  realization  of  the 
Divine  which  is  the  goal  of  all  our  souls  and  all  our  striving. 
For  though  Hinduism  cannot  say  with  St.  Augustine  that  God 
has  made  us  for  Himself, — inasmuch  as  we  were  not  made  at 
all,  but  are  eternally  parts  or  offshoots  of  the  Supreme,  —  it  can 
and  does  insist  that  our  souls  are  restless  till  they  rest  in  Him. 

As  to  what  is  the  exact  nature  of  this  final  consummation  of 
our  long  wanderings  there  is  some  difference  of  opinion  among 
the  Indian  schools.  The  bhaktas  regard  it  as  a  personal  im- 
mortalit\-  in  blissful  communion  with  the  personal  God.  An 
old  monk  in  a  Vaishnavite  monaster>'  at  Benares  told  me 
that  he  expected  to  go  at  death  directly  to  Rama's  heaven  and 
there  to  remain,  in  the  presence  of  the  One  God,  for  all  eternity. 
^  Govinda  Das,  Hinduism  and  India  (Benares,  1908),  pp.  72-73. 
109 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

"Whatever  be  thy  work,"  says  Sri  Krishna  to  Arjun,  "thy 
sacrifice,  thy  gift,  thy  mortification,  make  thou  of  it  an  offer- 
ing to  Me.  Thus  shaft  thou  be  reieased  from  the  bonds  of 
Works,  fair  or  foul  of  fruit:  thy  spirit  inspired  by  casting-off 
of  Works  and  following  my  Rule,  thou  shalt  be  delivered  and 
come  unto  Me.  They  that  worship  me  with  devotion  dwell  in 
Me  and  I  in  them.  None  who  is  devoted  to  me  is  lost.  Have 
thy  mind  on  Me,  thy  devotion  toward  Me,  thy  sacrifice  to  Me. 
Thus  guiding  thyself,  given  over  to  Me,  so  to  Me  shalt  thou 
come."  ^ 

For  the  Vedantist  the  final  goal  is  Moksha,^  the  losing  of 
one's  self  in  the  Divine,  the  complete  identification  of  the 
human  self  with  the  Universal  Self.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
Brihadaranyaka  Upanishad  we  are  given  an  account  of  the  fate 
of  the  "man  who  desires,"  —  i.e.,  of  the  man  who  still  has  some 
karma  to  work  out,  who  has  not  yet  attained  to  liberation  and 
realization.  The  text  then  continues:  "So  much  for  the  man 
who  desires.  But  as  for  the  man  who  does  not  desire,  who  not 
desiring,  freed  from  desires,  desires  the  Self  only,  his  vital 
spirits  at  death  do  not  depart  elsewhere.  Being  Brahman  he 
goes  to  Brahman.  When  all  desires  which  once  entered  his 
heart  are  undone,  then  does  the  mortal  become  immortal,  then 
he  obtains  Brahman.  And  as  the  slough  of  a  snake  lies  on  an 
ant-hill,  dead  and  cast  away,  thus  lies  this  body;  but  that  dis- 
embodied, immortal  spirit  is  Brahman  only,  is  only  light."  ^ 

Such,  then,  is  the  Hindu  doctrine  of  Destiny.  The  Indians 
almost  unanimously  consider  it  by  far  the  most  satisfactory 
solution  of  the  problems  of  life  and  of  the  universe  that  the 
human  mind  has  ever  conceived.  They  insist,  among  other 
things,  that  it  alone  solves  the  problem  of  evil.  The  inequali- 
ties of  this  life,  its  seemingly  strange  distribution  of  pains  and 
pleasures,  are  made  consistent  with  the  perfect  justice  of  the 
universe  by  the  assumption  that  a  man's  fortune  in  this  life  is 
an  exact  index  of  his  merit  in  the  last.   As  to  this  particular 

1  Bhagavad  Gita,  ix,  27,  28,  29,  31,  34. 

*  As  a  matter  of  fact  very  few  expect  to  attain  to  Moksha  at  the  con- 
clusion of  tliis  fife.  A  Hindu  friend  of  mine  tofd  me  fie  had  met  but  two  men 
who  foofced  for  it  so  soon.  Most  instead  foofc  forward  to  a  blissful  svarga 
and  a  good  rebirth. 

»  IV,  4,  6-7. 

1 10 


DUTY   AND  DESTINY 

claim  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  its  cogency  will  depend  upon 
the  further  question  as  to  how  the  merit  in  the  former  life  was 
determined.  If,  as  Shankara's  Vedanta  maintains,  it  was  due 
in  its  turn  to  previous  karma,  genuinely  free  choice  nowhere 
having  anything  to  do  with  it,  then  we  shall  find  it  impossible 
to  admit  that  the  transmigration  theory  has  any  advantage 
over  other  theories  as  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  evil.  This 
criticism,  however,  cannot  be  brought  against  those  schools  of 
Hindu  thought  which  maintain  the  freedom  of  the  will.  The 
working  of  the  theory-  in  practical  life,  on  the  other  hand,  has 
(as  we  shall  see)  certain  very  great  disadvantages,  resulting 
often  in  self-righteousness  on  the  part  of  the  high-bom,  undue 
servility  among  the  lower  castes,  and  strange  lack  of  sympathy 
toward  the  unfortunate. 

Yet  the  great  moral  significance  of  the  theory  must  not  be 
overlooked.  We  commonly  say  that  it  is  the  Semites  who  have 
developed  the  moral  side  of  religion,  and  that  the  Indians  have 
paid  but  scant  attention  to  it.  And  in  one  sense  this  is  true. 
Jehovah  and  Allah  are  moral  Gods  in  a  sense  that  Brahman 
and  all  his  devas  certainly  are  not.  But  it  must  be  pointed  out 
that  the  Semitic  universe  is  moral  because  Jehovah  or  Allah 
forces  it  to  be;  while  the  Indian  universe  is  moral  in  and  of  it- 
self. The  Indian  atheist  believes  both  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  and  in  the  morality  of  the  universe;  the  atheist  of  Hebrew, 
Christian,  or  Mohammedan  extraction  believes  in  neither.  The 
Law  of  Karma  is  independent  of  the  Gods,  and  whoever  be- 
lieves in  it  believes  that  the  laws  of  morality  are  more  funda- 
mental than  those  of  physics,  that  the  moral  struggle  is  so 
fierce  as  to  occupy  thousands  of  incarnations,  and  so  important 
that  it  is  the  central  fact  of  the  whole  cosmic  drama.  A  theory 
such  as  this,  and  one  with  such  a  venerable  history  behind  it, 
numbering  as  it  does  among  its  adherents  not  only  Shankara 
and  the  Buddha,  but  Empedokles  and  Plato  and  a  host  of 
other  thinkers,  deserves  at  least  to  be  taken  seriously. 

The  great  criticism  to  be  brought  against  the  reincarnation 
theory  is  that  it  can  produce  scarcely  a  shred  of  empirical  evi- 
dence. But  as  this  holds  equally  well  of  all  doctrines  of  the  fu- 
ture life,  it  will  not  help  us  in  determining  the  relative  merit  of 
any.  An  objection  which  will  appeal  to  many  is  to  be  found 
III 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

in  the  considerable  loss  that  would  seem  to  result  if  those  who, 
after  the  training  of  a  lifetime  of  study,  suffering,  and  endeavor, 
go  to  their  graves  full  of  years  and  of  wisdom,  are  to  be  reborn 
shortly  thereafter  as  ignorant  and  helpless  infants.  It  seems, 
indeed,  a  pity  that  the  spiritual  gains  of  a  long  and  strenuous 
life  should  go  for  so  little  and  that  so  much  of  the  struggle 
should  have  to  be  repeated.  A  more  serious  objection  is  of  a 
technical  and  philosophical  nature,  and  has  to  do  with  the 
question  of  personal  identity.  What  do  you  mean,  one  may 
well  ask  the  defender  of  this  theory,  when  you  say  that  the 
same  self  is  reborn  in  another  body?  If  we  follow  Ribot,  whose 
analysis  has  been  accepted  by  most  psychologists,  self-identity 
from  a  psychological  point  of  view  means  to  us  (pragmati- 
cally) similar  bodily  feelings  and  sensations  plus  conscious 
memory.  1  If  the  "soul "  be  reborn  in  a  perfectly  new  body  and 
bereft  of  all  its  memories,  it  is  hard  to  see  what  can  be  the 
pragmatic  meaning  of  calling  it  "the  same"  soul.  If,  now,  our 
Indian  friend  appeals  from  psychology  to  metaphysics,  and 
claims  identity  only  for  an  immaterial  substance,  it  will  not  be 
hard  to  show  him,  with  the  aid  of  John  Locke,  that  personal 
identity  and  identity  of  "substance"  are  two  very  different 
things,^  and  that  the  only  identity  any  one  has  ever  had  a  vital 
interest  in  is  the  identity  of  the  person.  If  it  is  only  an  "imma- 
terial substance"  or  a  characterless  pure  perceiving  subject 
that  is  reborn,  in  what  sense  can  it  be  called  identical  with  the 
"substance,"  "subject,"  or  "soul"  of  the  man  who  died? 

To  this  the  Hindu  will  answer  that  while  particular  conscious 
memories  are  not  reborn  in  the  new  incarnation,  what  may  be 
called  general  and  potential  memories  are.  And  these  are  by 
far  the  most  important:  for  they  have  become  cr>'stallized  into 
emotional  moods,  tendencies  to  reaction,  ways  of  thinking  — 
in  short,  into  character  and  temperament.  The  one  great  pur- 
pose, moreover,  of  moral  redemption  is  carried  over  without 
break  from  one  life  to  the  other.  And  in  addition  to  this  simi- 
larity of  content,  there  is  a  continuity  between  the  two  lives  con- 
tributed by  the  knowing  subject,  in  whose  consciousness  there 

1  See,  for  example,  Ribot's  Les  Maladies  de  la  Memoire  (Paris,  Alcan, 
1901),  pp.  83-86. 
*  See  Locke's  An  Essay  concerning  Human  Under  standing, hook  11,  chap.  27. 

112 


DUTY   AND   DESTINY 

is  no  real  break.  Thus  the  two  successive  lives  are  joined  by 
both  continuity  of  view  and  similarity  of  content;  and  if  these 
be  not  enough  to  permit  us  to  speak  of  self-identity  in  the  two 
incarnations,  then,  the  Hindu  will  assure  us,  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  see  how  we  could  affirm  it  within  one  life,  or  ever  say 
that  the  old  man  who  dies  is  the  same  self  that  was  born  "a 
puling  infant"  nearly  a  century  before. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  these  arguments  and  of  the  doc- 
trine of  transmigration  when  viewed  by  itself  alone,  it  may  be 
of  interest  to  compare  it  directly  with  the  Protestant  Christian 
doctrine  that  the  soul  at  death  passes  immediately  into  heaven 
or  hell  and  remains  there  eternally.  The  most  noticeable  fact 
about  the  Christian  doctrine  of  hell  at  the  present  time  is  that 
belief  in  it  is  rapidly  disappearing.  The  Universalists  have 
millions  of  converts  in  denominations  that  bear  other  names. 
For  a  very  large  number  of  Christian  people,  who  are  in  other 
respects  quite  orthodox,  hell  has  become  a  kind  of  joke.  The 
chief  reason  for  this  is,  I  suppose,  the  rather  common  feeling 
that  a  just  God  (to  say  nothing  of  a  merciful  one)  could  not 
mete  out  eternal  punishment  for  the  sins  of  a  paltry  threescore 
years  and  ten ;  and  that  a  sensible  God  could  not  allow  so  short 
a  time  to  count  for  ever\'thing  in  determining  a  man's  fate,  and 
successive  endless  centuries  to  count  for  absolutely  nothing. 
This,  at  any  rate,  is  certainly  one  of  the  factors  that  have  con- 
tributed to  make  the  Christian  doctrine  of  hell  seem  irrational 
and  almost  unthinkable  to  the  modern  man.  The  doctrine  of 
incarnation,  on  the  other  hand,  avoids  at  least  this  difficulty. 
It  provides  inevitable  and  suitable  punishment  for  every  sinful 
act  and  wish,  in  the  very  fruit  of  the  wish  and  of  the  act  itself; 
but  it  provides  only  finite  punishments  for  finite  sins,  and  it 
makes  the  soul  answerable  for  all  its  acts  including  those  of  its 
endless  future.  Even  to  the  worst  of  beings  the  door  of  oppor- 
tunity is  never  quite  shut,  if  he  really  wills  to  turn  from  his  evil 
way  and  live;  nowhere  in  its  universe  is  there  a  portal  over 
which  is  written:  "Who  enter  here  leave  hope  behind." 

But  perhaps  we  still  believe  in  the  Christian  hell.   If  so  how 

many  of  our  acquaintances  do  we  honestly  think  ought  to  go 

there?  A  quarter  of  them? —   I  trust  not.  A  fifth?  A  tenth? 

Very  well.  What  about  the  nine  tenths  who  are  left?  Are  they 

113 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

fit  for  heaven?  Are  they  ready  for  the  beatific  vision?  And  if 
they  all  go  there,  what  will  heaven  be  like?  Look  around  you 
at  the  people  you  see;  think  over  the  people  you  know.  They 
are  not  bad  people.  But  what  kind  of  a  place  will  heaven  be  if 
they  —  if  most  of  us  —  are  ready  for  it?  Will  it  be  worth  going 
to;  will  it  be  endurable  for  all  eternity?  If  one  may  judge  by 
watching  the  people  whom  one  sees,  the  sort  of  heaven  that  most 
of  them  would  vote  for  would  be,  not,  indeed,  the  luxurious  gar- 
dens of  the  Koran,  but  perhaps  a  Biergarten,  or  a  vaudeville, 
or  the  "movies."  How  many  of  them  would  care  for  the  beati- 
fic vision?  How  many  of  us  are  ready  for  heaven? 

It  may  be  said  in  reply  that  at  death  we  become  so  trans- 
formed in  desire  and  character  as  to  be  made  fit  at  once  for  the 
presence  of  God.  But  surely  a  transformation  of  such  a  nature 
and  extent  and  brought  about  so  suddenly  would  make  the 
assertion  of  personal  identity  almost  meaningless:  we  should 
be  faced  at  least  with  as  great  a  difficulty  as  that  which  I  urged 
above  against  transmigration.  And  more  serious  than  this 
difficulty  is  the  consideration  that  the  idea  of  such  a  moral 
transformation  wrought  miraculously  by  the  external  and  acci- 
dental fact  of  death  completely  belittles  the  moral  struggle, 
ignores  the  nature  of  moral  life,  and  makes  spiritual  progress 
not  a  matter  of  inner  achievement,  but  one  of  external  accre- 
tion imposed  from  without.  The  Hindu  thinker  would  smile  at 
such  a  doctrine. 

The  truth  is,  we  Westerners  are  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  for 
our  heaven  to  be  willing  to  wait  for  a  good  one.  We  must  have 
it  right  off  at  the  end  of  this  life.  Our  business  ideals  of  prompt- 
ness, speed,  and  hustle  have  affected  our  theology.  To  wait 
more  than  threescore  years  and  ten  is  to  us  intolerable.  We  can 
hardly  even  conceive  of  the  great  patience  of  the  East  which  is 
willing  to  wait  through  a  thousand  lives  —  through  a  hundred 
thousand  lives  —  and  which  can  afford  to  do  so  because  its 
faith  in  the  soul  and  its  eternal  hope  is  so  infinitely  strong. 

Personally  I  do  not  believe  in  transmigration.  But  I  am  open 
to  conviction.  And  I  feel  ver>'  strongly  the  nobility  and  beauty 
of  the  doctrine.  There  is  an  undeniable  dignity  in  the  Hindu 
conception  of  the  soul,  pursuing  its  long  pilgrimage  through 
dying  bodies  and  decaying  worlds,  until  at  last  it  reaches  home 
114 


DUTY   AND  DESTINY 

in  the  Endless  Sea.  And  not  only  has  the  doctrine  its  own  no- 
bility: it  lends  a  dignity  and  a  sense  of  cosmic  significance  to 
Indian  life.  Fear  and  pettiness  can  hardly  stand  before  this 
intuition.  Calmness  and  peace  tend  to  take  their  place,  and  a 
certain  poise  that  makes  one  ready  for  all  that  comes.  "Sub- 
dued in  spirit  and  steadfast  in  purpose"  —  such  is  the  Indian 
ideal  —  ready  for  life  and  ready  for  death.  For  the  Hindu  does 
not  believe  he  is  going  to  enter  into  eternal  Hfe;  he  believes  he 
is  living  the  eternal  life  already.  He  is  in  a  condition  of  spiritual 
equilibrium,  like  a  buoyant  body  on  the  wave  or  a  sea-gull  in 
the  air.  The  body  is  transitory,  for  it  is  merely  "  this  patched- 
together  hiding-place,"  and  the  "body-dweller,"  the  eternal 
soul,  the  knowing  Self,  has  passed  through  many  and  many  a 
form  like  this  before.  "As  a  man  lays  aside  outworn  garments 
and  takes  others  that  are  new,  so  the  body-dweller  puts  away 
outworn  bodies  and  goes  to  others  that  are  new." 

"Weapons  cleave  not  This,  fire  burns  not  This,  waters  wet  not  This,  wind 
dries  it  not. 

"  Not  to  be  cleft  is  This,  not  to  be  burned;  everlasting  is  This,  firm,  motion- 
less, ancient  of  days. 

"Unshown  is  this  called,  unalterable:  therefore  knowing  it  thus,  thou 
dost  not  well  to  grieve."  ^ 

^  Bhagavad  Gita,  n,  22-25. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   HINDU    DHARMA 

IT  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  reader  will  not  suppose  that  by 
learning  the  Hindu  views  of  the  Gods,  Philosophy,  and  Fate, 
he  has  learned  "the  Hindu  religion."  To  us  Christians  it  has 
become  so  natural  to  identify  religion  with  creed  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult at  first  to  conceive  of  religion  being  anything  else.  To 
make  such  an  identification,  however,  is  in  fact  very  provincial, 
—  both  spatially  and  temporally.  The  ancients,  for  instance, 
did  not  view  matters  at  all  in  our  way.  A  Greek  thinker, 
such  as  Aristotle,  could  give  up  all  belief  in  his  country's  gods, 
and  yet  never  be  regarded  as  a  heretic  provided  he  fulfilled  reg- 
ularly all  the  external  duties  which  religious  custom  demanded. 
So  it  is  with  the  Hindu.  He  has  always  enjoyed  very  ample 
liberty  of  thought,  because  he  and  his  fellows  have  never  con- 
ceived of  religion  as  being  in  any  way  identical  with  creed. 
The  Hindu  atheist  is  in  as  good  and  regular  standing  as  the 
polytheist,  the  theist,  or  the  pantheist,  and  provided  he  lives 
according  to  the  ancient  customs  is  never  regarded  as  in  any 
way  heretical.  In  fact  Hinduism  includes  within  itself  every 
kind  of  creed,  and  from  this  point  of  view  claims  to  be  the  only 
really  universal  religion  extant.  One  of  its  defenders  writes:  — 

"From  the  crudest  kinds  of  animism  to  the  most  refined 
spiritual  worships,  all  are  accommodated  by  and  accounted  for 
in  Hinduism.  It  believes  that  each  religion  and  all  the  religions 
together  are  only  *  feeling  after '  the  Absolute.  They  are  all  true 
in  their  own  proper  place;  and  none  possess  the  absolute  and 
final  revelation  of  the  Infinite.  And  this  is  why  Hinduism  can 
legitimately  claim  to  be  the  only  true  universal  religion  in  the 
world. 

"  For  Hinduism  is  not  one  religion  like  Christianity,  Islam,  or 

even  Judaism;  but  correctly  speaking  it  is  a  compendium  of 

many  creeds  and  cults,  all  united  in  a  common  culture  and  a 

common  ideal-end.    Hinduism  accepts  whatever  may  be  or  is 

ii6 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

classed  as  religion  as  parts  of  itself.  As  a  religion  Hinduism 
has  no  quarrel  either  with  Christianity  or  Islam,  Judaism  or 
Zoroastrianism.  A  Hindu,  provided  only  he  accepts  the  social 
economy  and  observes  the  purificatory  laws  and  regulations  of 
the  Hindu  culture,  may  well  believe  in  and  worship  Jesus 
Christ,  or  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  Prophet  of  Me- 
dina in  all  matters  of  faith."  ' 

Naturally  there  is  an  obverse  side  to  this  all-inclusiveness 
which  does  not  appear  so  brilliant  and  attractive.  As  another 
Hindu  puts  it,  "To-day  Hinduism  is  an  agglomeration  of 
even,'thing  under  heaven  and  earth,  from  the  acutest  philoso- 
phy to  the  most  barbarous  fetish  worship;  all  shades  of  the 
highest  ideals  coupled  with  the  most  degrading  practices  are 
enfolded  within  Its  all-embracing  creeds."  - 

It  is  inappropriate,  then,  to  speak  of  Hinduism  as  "a  faith." 
Hinduism  means  rather  the  accepted  manner  of  life  of  those  horn 
"uAthin  certain  castes  and  families  in  India.  When  Hindus  them- 
selves refer  to  Hinduism  they  do  not  speak  of  it  as  a  religion : 
they  use  the  word  Dharma.  Only  in  the  most  general  way  can 
Dharma  be  said  to  mean  religion.  A  better  translation  for  it  is 
Law,  —  the  inner  and  constitutive  and  ideal  nature  of  a  thing. 
It  corresponds  somewhat  to  the  Aristotelian  form.  Thus  even 
non-sentient  things  have  a  dharma  —  heat  being  the  dharma  of 
fire  and  sound  that  of  ether.  It  is  the  proper  function  or  ideal 
nature  of  a  thing.  And  thus  dharma  as  applied  to  man  and  so- 
ciety will  include  the  whole  of  human  culture,  in  which  each 
individual  has  his  own  part  to  play,  his  own  duties  to  perform, 
so  that  the  totality  of  men  and  gods,  of  earth  and  heaven,  may 
form  one  complete  and  perfect  whole.  As  this  conception  of 
dharma  was  formed  before  the  Indians  knew  that  there  was 
any  land  but  India,  the  word  came  to  mean  the  civilization  and 
ideals  and  traditional  ways  of  acting  of  the  Indians.  Hinduism 
is  thus  "a  culture,  not  a  creed";  and  from  this  point  of  view  one 
of  its  admirers  writes:  — 

"Dogmas  and  creeds  may  to  some  extent  be  imposed  from 
the  outside:  but  real  piety  must  grow  from  within.  And  what 
is  to  be  developed  from  within  must  work  upon  the  inner  nature 

1  Hindu  Review,  June,  1913,  pp.  580-81. 
*  Govinda  Das,  Hinduism  and  India. 

117 


INDIA  AND  ITS   FAITHS 

of  the  person  in  whom  it  is  to  grow.  And  as  men's  inner  natures 
differ  in  the  case  of  different  people,  so  their  reUgious  duties  and 
disciplines  must  also  be  different.  What  may  be  helpful  to  one 
person  may  not  be  helpful  to  another.  There  cannot  be,  there- 
fore, any  universal  creed  or  any  uniform  ritual  in  a  religion  that 
seeks  not  to  preach  opinion,  but  to  grow  character."  ^ 

This  decidedly  loose  organization  of  Hinduism  comes  out 
plainly  in  the  question  of  the  seat  of  authority.  According  to 
Manu  this  is  to  be  found  first  of  all  in  the  Veda,  after  that  in  the 
Smriti,  or  Traditions,  in  the  usages  of  good  and  noble  men,  and 
in  one's  own  reason  and  experience.  As  to  the  way  in  which  the 
term  "Veda"  shall  here  be  interpreted  the  Hindus  do  not  fully 
agree.  Commonly  the  word  is  used  to  refer  to  the  ancient 
hymns  and  verses  of  the  earliest  Indian  Aryans  and  to  the 
Brahmanas  (or  early  ritualistic  books)  and  the  Upanishads. 
These,  as  making  up  the  "Vedas,"  or  the  "Veda,"  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  revealed  to  the  ancient  Aryan  seers  or 
"Rishis,"  at  the  beginning  of  our  cycle.  But  we  are  also  told 
repeatedly,  that  the  Veda  is  eternal:  that  it  is  revealed  to  the 
Rishis  at  the  beginning  not  only  of  our  age,  but  at  the  beginning 
of  every  age,  and  by  them  disseminated  among  men.  In  this 
sepse  of  the  word,  the  Veda  seems  hardly  to  refer  to  our  partic- 
ular editions,  say,  of  the  Rig  Veda  or  the  Upanishads,  but 
rather  to  be  equivalent  to  Divine  Truth  as  such.  It  is  in  this 
large  sense  that  many  of  the  more  enlightened  Hindus  take  the 
word. 2  Man  has,  according  to  the  Hindu  view,  two  kinds  of 
knowledge  —  or  at  least  is  capable  of  having  two  kinds  —  a 
sensuous  and  a  super-sensuous.  The  former  includes  all  that  is 
based  on  sense-perception  and  worked  out  by  logic.  The  other 
is  different  in  kind:  it  is  an  immediate  intuition  of  Divine 
Truth,  and  it  has  quite  a  different  organ  from  the  senses  or  the 
intellect.  It  is  potentially  the  same  in  all  human  beings  though 
actually  inexhaustible.  The  historical  Vedas  are  the  expression 
of  it  as  it  existed  in  the  teachings  of  the  ancient  Rishis.  As  such 
they  are  reliable  and  authoritative.  But  the  Divine  Voice  did 
not  cease  speaking  when  their  ears  were  stopped.  The  days  of 

*  Bipin  Chandra  Pal,  The  Soul  of  India,  p.  220. 

*  Cf .  the  editorial  on  "The  Seat  of  Authority  in  Hinduism,"  in  the  Hindu 
Review  for  September,  19 13. 

118 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

inspiration  have  never  ceased  and  never  will  cease.  Each  of  us 
is  capable  of  the  same  sort  of  spiritual  vision  which  the  Rishis 
enjoyed,  and  innumerable  religious  teachers  from  their  day  to 
ours  have  added  to  their  inspired  message.  The  Hindu  has  a 
large  confidence  that  all  this  inspired  super-sensuous  knowl- 
edge will  be  and  must  be  consistent  with  itself,  and  in  this  trust 
he  usually  is  not  careful  to  compare  the  statements  of  new 
teachers  with  the  words  of  the  Vedas  —  though  he  may  some- 
times do  so.  The  Vedas  are  authoritative  —  yes;  but  they  have 
not  been  reduced  to  creeds  and  made  the  basis  of  systematic 
heresy  trials. 

But  though  Hinduism  has  no  narrow  creed  and  is  "univer- 
sal" in  the  sense  that  it  has  a  place  for  every  sort  of  contradic- 
tory belief,  —  atheism  included,  —  it  is  decidedly  provincial 
from  another  point  of  view.  To  be  a  Hindu  one  must  have  a 
definite  place  in  the  Hindu  social  structure.  One  must  be  born 
in  a  Hindu  family  and  as  a  member  of  some  particular  caste. 
And  if  one  is  not  fortunate  enough  to  be  a  Hindu  by  birth  there 
is  no  chance  for  him  in  this  present  life.  You  and  I  might  accept 
Shiva  and  Vishnu  with  all  their  wives  and  avatars,  we  might 
learn  the  Vedas  by  heart  and  do  puja  before  the  lingam  seven 
times  a  day  with  endless  Ganges  water,  and  we  should  come  no 
nearer  to  being  accepted  as  Hindus  than  we  were  at  birth.  Out- 
siders, indeed,  have  been  accepted  into  Hinduism  by  the  thou- 
sand; but  this  is  only  when  whole  tribes  are  adopted  bodily  and 
made  over  into  Hindu  castes  by  the  local  Brahmin  authorities. 
And  if  you  and  I  do  not  happen  to  belong  to  a  tribe  that  the 
Brahmins  will  adopt  entire,  our  only  way  of  joining  Hinduism 
is  to  die  and  take  a  chance  on  being  born  into  a  luckier  tribe 
and  a  more  fortunate  family.^ 

Of  course,  birth  within  the  fortunate  fold  is  not  enough.  One 
may  fall  from  grace.    To  retain  one's  position  among  the  or- 

1  One  cannot  even  marry  into  Hinduism,  for  the  Dharma  does  not  admit 
of  Hindus  being  unequally  yoked  together  with  others  and  will  not  recognize 
the  marriage  between  a  Hindu  and  any  one  not  born  within  the  fold.  If  a 
woman  of  Christian  or  Moslem  birth  should  be  converted  to  full  belief  in 
Shiva  and  the  rest,  and  should  regularly  practice  all  the  appropriate  pujas, 
it  would  still  be  impossible  for  her  to  marry  a  Hindu  or  be  admitted  to 
the  Hindu  temples.  —  Of  late  years,  however,  a  back  door  into  a  quasi- 
Hinduism  has  been  opened  through  the  Brahmo  and  Arya  Samajes. 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

thodox  one  must  observe  Dharma;  one  must  perform  the  rites 
and  duties  and  be  true  to  the  sacred  customs  which  go  along 
with  the  family  and  caste  into  which  one  has  been  born.  Thus 
Hinduism  is  a  very  complex  thing.  It  means  a  certain  structure 
of  society  and  a  certain  manner  of  life  in  relation  to  one's  whole 
social,  natural,  and  supernatural  environment.  It  means 
obedience  to  certain  customs  and  participation  —  or  at  least 
acquiescence  —  in  certain  conditions.  Every  study  of  Hindu- 
ism, therefore,  which  would  not  be  unpardonably  misleading 
must  give  at  least  some  slight  consideration  to  these  customs 
and  traditions,  these  social  forms  and  these  external  duties. 

Probably  the  most  salient  characteristic  of  the  Hindu  social 
structure  is  the  caste  system.  Nearly  every  one  who  knows 
anything  at  all  about  India  knows  about  caste,  so  little  need  be 
said  of  it  here.  It  originated  in  the  very  natural  division  of 
ancient  Aryan  society  into  priests,  warriors,  and  producers,  — 
a  division  by  no  means  peculiar  to  India  but  paralleled  among 
many  primitive  peoples. f  As  the  Aryans  in  their  gradual  con- 
quest of  the  Indian  peninsula  settled  down  in  the  midst  of  a 
darker  and  lower  race,  they  felt  the  need  of  keeping  their  own 
blood  pure  from  intermixture  and  took  what  means  they  could 
to  prevent  it.  The  two  chief  forces  here  operative  were  proba- 
bly an  unargued  repugnance  against  close  relations  with  a  lower 
race,  and  a  deliberate  desire  to  keep  unsullied  their  own  dearly 
prized  culture f— exactly  the  same  two  forces,  in  short,  that 
make  the  American  of  the  Southern  States  emphasize  the  color 
line,  and  the  Californian  legislate  against  the  "Yellow  Peril."  0 
The  taboo  upon  intermarriage  with  the  aborigines  is  thus  easily 
understood,  while  the  strange  and  often  filthy  customs  of  these 
aborigines  and  the  unhygienic  and  even  disgusting  nature  of 

1  The  importance  of  the  color  line  in  the  origin  of  Indian  caste  is  reflected 
in  the  fact  that  one  of  the  two  Indian  names  for  caste  to-day  is  varna,  or 
color.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  American  draws  the  line  in  just  the 
same  place  where  the  ancient  Aryan  drew  it  and  where  the  modern  high- 
caste  Indian  draws  it,  —  namely,  on  the  questions  of  intermarriage  and  in- 
terdining.  The  Southerner  is  willing  to  praise  Booker  Washington  and  even 
to  call  him  "Professor"  (though  never  "Mister");  but  let  him  dine  with  a 
white  man  and  there  is  trouble.  And  it  is  noticeable  that  some  of  the  Anglo- 
Indians  who  are  quickest  to  attack  the  caste  system  make  quite  as  much  of 
color  distinctions  when  they  themselves  are  involved  as  does  the  intolerant 
high-caste  Brahmin. 

I20 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

much  of  their  food  made  the  thought  of  interdining  intolerable 
to  the  cleanly  and  punctilious  invaders.  As  time  went  on  social 
distinctions  among  the  Aryans  themselves  stiffened  and  each 
class  developed  its  own  customs  and  its  own  class  conscious- 
ness, and  by  mutual  consent  rules  against  intermarriage  and 
interdining  naturally  came  to  mark  more  and  more  absolutely 
the  distinction  between  the  three  great  classes  of  Aryan  society. 
At  the  same  time  the  conquered  and  subject  members  of  the 
aboriginal  races,  who  were  gradually  absorbing  much  of  the 
civilization  of  their  conquerors,  came  to  be  recognized  as  on 
quite  a  different  footing  from  those  of  the  native  inhabitants  of 
the  land  who  were  as  yet  untouched  by  Aryan  culture.  Thus, 
long  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  there  were  four 
clearly  recognized  classes  or  castes:  (i)  the  Bralimms,  or  priests; 
(2)  the  Kshatriyas,  or  warriors  and  rulers;  (3)  the  Vaisyas,  or 
producers,  farmers,  business  men,  artisans;  and  (4)  the  non- 
Aryan  but  civilized  Shudras,  or  servants.  Beside  these  there 
were  the  Fifth-Class  men,  the  people  who  had  no  caste  and 
were  therefore  lumped  together  under  the  title  "Outcastes." 
And  before  this  differentiation  had  been  fully  completed  sub- 
divisions began  to  be  formed  among  the  members  of  the  great 
castes  themselves.  These  subdivisions  were  due  in  part  to  local 
causes.  Brahmins  in  remote  parts  of  the  country  lost  connection 
with  each  other,  and  while  both  parties  retained  the  proud  title 
of  Brahmin  and  the  priestly  privileges,  each  community  devel- 
oped traditions  of  its  own  and  refused  to  intermarry  with  the 
other.  As  the  Aryans  spread  their  culture  over  the  land,  more- 
over, the  Brahmins  adopted  whole  tribes  of  docile  aborigines 
into  the  Hindu  fold,  and  in  so  doing  recognized  them  as  sub- 
divisions of  the  Shudra  caste  and  even  sometimes  admitted 
them  among  the  Vaisyas  or  Kshatriyas.  The  Outcastes  also  in 
time  organized  themselves  on  the  Hindu  model.  As  a  result 
there  are  to-day  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  castes  of  Brahmins 
alone  and  more  than  twenty  different  castes  (if  we  may  use  the 
word)  among  the  Outcastes;  while  the  total  number  of  castes  of 
all  sorts  is  upwards  of  nineteen  thousand.^ 

In  a  general  way  one  may  say  that  some  such  division  of 

*  Stover,  India:  a  Problem,  p.  11 1.  The  number  of  main  castes  according 
to  Professor  Howells  is  2378  {The  Soul  of  India,  p.  105). 

121 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

society  as  the  caste  system  is  to  be  found  in  other  lands  besides 
India.  The  pecuHar  thing  about  the  Indian  system  is  the  iron- 
bound  nature  given  it  by  its  religious  sanction.  The  different 
castes  were  early  regarded  —  and  this  is  the  orthodox  theory 
to-day  —  not  as  different  social  classes,  but  as  different  races  of 
men,  as  distinct  from  each  other  as  different  species  of  animals.^ 
The  four  castes  within  the  fold  all  came  from  God  but  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  God,  four  separate  creations  being  thus  in- 
volved.^ Thus  the  whole  system  was  predetermined  by  God 
before  creation,  and  all  the  minutest  details  of  its  administra- 
tion have  been  for  centuries  regarded,  and  are  still  regarded,  as 
having  divine  sanction.]  Probably  no  European  has  ever  been 
better  acquainted  with  Indian  society  than  was  the  famous 
French  missionary,  the  Abbe  Dubois,  who  writes  thus:  — 

"  During  the  many  years  that  I  have  studied  Hindu  customs 
I  cannot  say  that  I  have  ever  observed  a  single  one,  however 
unimportant  and  simple,  and  I  may  add  however  filthy  and 
disgusting,  which  did  not  rest  on  some  religious  principle  or 
other.  Nothing  is  left  to  chance:  ever>-thing  is  laid  down  by 
rule,  and  the  foundation  of  all  their  customs  is  purely  and  sim- 
ply religion.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Hindus  hold  all  their 
customs  and  usages  to  be  inviolable,  for  being  essentially  reli- 
gious, they  consider  them  as  sacred  as  religion  itself."  ^ 

But  perhaps  the  most  important  factor  in  making  the  caste 
system  peculiarly  sacred  in  Hindu  eyes  is  its  connection  with 
the  theory  of  rebirth  and  Karma.  According  to  this  hypothesis 
(which  to  the  Hindu  is  no  hypothesis,  but  a  fact)  every  one 
receives  in  this  life  what  he  earned  in  the  last;  and  hence,  as 
Farquhar  puts  it,  a  man's  caste  is  "an  infallible  index  of  the 
state  of  his  soul."  If  a  man  is  a  Brahmin,  it  is  because  he  has 
earned  that  proud  position  through  many  lives  of  increasing 

1  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  in  the  Hindu's  conception  there 
is  no  such  chasm  between  the  different  species  of  animals,  or  even  between 
animals  and  men,  as  the  West  believes  in.  For  Hinduism  the  animals  are 
souls  like  ourselves,  though  clad  in  somewhat  inferior  bodies. 

*  One  of  the  names  of  God  in  late  Vedic  times  was  "Purusha"  and  he  is 
pictured  in  a  late  verse  of  the  Rig  Veda  as  having  created  the  world  by  mak- 
ing a  great  sacrifice.  "The  Brahmin  was  his  mouth;  the  Kshatriya  was 
made  from  his  arms;  the  being  called  Vaisya  was  his  thighs;  the  Shudra 
sprang  from  his  feet."  x,  90,  12. 

'  Hindu  Manners,  Customs,  and  Ceremonies,  p.  31. 

122 


THE  HINDU   DHARMA 

purity  and  spirituality,  and  hence  ought  to  be  respected  and 
obeyed;  while  the  man  who  is  born  an  Outcaste  deserv^es  to  be. 

But  if  the  conception  of  transmigration  and  Karma  has  made 
the  social  structure  of  India  sternly  and  sometimes  cruelly 
rigorous,  it  has  also  given  it  a  cosmic  sanction  and  an  ethical 
significance  which  once  understood  lend  it  a  real  dignity  at 
least  in  ideal.  For  as  the  devout  Hindu  conceives  of  caste,  it  is 
an  expression  in  human  society  of  the  fundamental  purpose  of 
the  universe;  it  is  an  institution  framed  by  the  Rishis  for  the 
education  of  the  soul.  In  our  last  chapter  I  said  that  in  the 
Hindu  view  the  world  was  a  great  school;  and  if  we  revert  to 
this  figure  one  may  add  that  each  of  the  great  castes  corre- 
sponds to  one  of  the  classes.  Or  to  use  a  more  Indian  com- 
parison, each  of  the  four  castes  corresponds  to  one  of  the  four 
periods  into  which  (as  we  shall  see)  the  life  of  the  individual  is 
ideally  divided.  The  members  of  each  caste,  therefore,  find 
their  positions  and  their  duties  assigned  to  them  by  the  moral 
laws  of  the  universe,  each  being  given  (in  theory)  exactly  the 
place  for  which  his  previous  training  and  achievement  (in 
former  births)  had  prepared  him.  Thus  human  society  is  re- 
garded as  an  organic  whole  in  which  each  man  has  his  own 
task  to  perform,  by  loyalty  to  which  alone  he  must  be  judged; 
and  he  that  is  here  and  now  faithful  over  a  few  things  shall  in 
the  next  incarnation  be  made  master  over  many  things. 

The  caste  system  in  theory,  therefore,  is  in  some  respects 
decidedly  similar  to  Plato's  theory  of  what  the  State  should  be. 
As  the  reader  will  remember  Plato's  ideal  Republic  was  one  in 
which  each  of  the  three  great  classes  —  the  philosophers,  war- 
riors, and  producers  —  performed  its  own  duty  fully  and  re- 
spected absolutely  the  duties  and  functions  of  the  others.^  The 
following  words  from  the  Bhagavad  Gita  hold  (except  in  de- 
tail) almost  as  well  of  the  Hellenic  as  of  the  Indian  ideal:  — 

"Restraint  of  spirit  and  sense,  mortification,  purity,  pa- 
tience, uprightness,  knowledge,  discernment,  and  belief  are  the 
natural  works  of  the  Brahmins  [philosophers]. 

1  King  Alfred's  ideal  was  much  the  same,  and  was  phrased  in  even 
more  Indian  fashion.  In  his  version  of  the  De  Consolatione  he  writes:  "  A 
king  must  have  men  of  prayer,  men  of  war,  and  men  of  work.  Without 
these  tools  no  king  may  display  his  special  talent."  —  Quoted  in  Taylor's 
MedicBval  Mind  (London,  Macmillan,  191 1),  vol.  i,  p.  189. 

123 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

"Valor,  heroic  temper,  constancy,  skill,  steadfastness  in 
strife,  largesse,  and  princeliness  are  the  natural  Kshatriya 
[warrior]  works. 

"Tilling  the  ground,  herding  kine,  and  trading  are  the  natu- 
ral works  of  Vaisyas  [or  producers],  and  the  natural  work  of  the 
Shudra  [the  serf]  is  service. 

"According  as  each  man  devotes  himself  to  his  own  proper 
work  does  he  attain  to  consummation.  There  is  more  happi- 
ness in  doing  one's  own  Law  without  excellence  than  in  doing 
another's  Law  well."  ^ 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  caste  system  in  practice, 
there  is  no  denying  that  in  theory  it  has  some  qualities  to  com- 
mand our  respect.  It  is  no  small  boast  of  the  Indian  that  in  his 
land  alone  in  the  modern  world,  those  who  are  regarded  as  the 
spiritual  leaders  of  society  are  by  universal  agreement  given  a 
place  unquestionably  superior  to  the  warrior  and  the  ruler, 
while  the  social  position  of  every  one  is  supposed  to  depend  not 
on  wealth  or  power,  but  on  the  degree  of  his  inner  development. 
And  if  we  could  share  the  faith  of  the  Hindu  that  Karma  doeth 
all  things  well  and  that  men  are  always  born  just  where  they 
deserve  to  be,  we  should  probably  feel  more  kindly  toward  the 
caste  system  than  most  of  us  outsiders  do.  Granted  its  cosmic 
presupposition,  the  institution  has  much  to  say  for  itself.  But 
even  so,  there  are  very  few,  even  among  the  Hindus,  who  will 
maintain  that  it  is  anything  like  a  perfect  system  to-day.  In 
the  times  of  Manu,  they  tell  us,  it  was  perfect,  but  the  race  has 
so  degenerated  that  the  system  is  no  longer  what  it  was  meant 
to  be.  And  among  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  it, 
according  to  learned  Hindus,  one  of  the  most  unfortunate  has 
been  a  steady  stiffening  and  loss  of  elasticity.  The  ancient 
books  recount  a  number  of  instances  in  which  men  have  risen 
to  a  caste  higher  than  that  in  which  they  were  born  by  the 
exhibition  of  the  powers  and  capacities  characteristic  of  the 
higher  caste.  Such  a  rise  is  impossible  to-day.  A  man's  lot  is 
pretty  well  settled  for  him  on  the  day  of  his  birth. 

*  xvni,  42-47.  That  such  a  system  of  society  must  have  had,  especially  in 
the  distant  past,  great  advantages  is  obvious.  The  Abb6  Dubois  points  out 
that  it  has  been  a  prime  factor  in  the  handing  down  of  the  ancient  culture 
and  in  establishing  various  kinds  of  social  restraints  upon  individual  caprice. 
In  fact,  it  seems  to  be  the  one  thing  in  India  for  which  he  has  a  good  word. 

124 


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M^^i^Hi 

THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

For  not  only  does  caste  determine  one's  privileges  and  duties; 
in  large  part  it  determines  his  occupation  as  well.  To  the 
Brahmin,  indeed,  many  occupations  are  open;  but  only  he  may 
teach  the  Veda  or  act  as  priest,  and  as  we  go  down  in  the  social 
scale  less  freedom  of  choice  is  permitted.  Among  the  Shudras 
most  of  the  subcastes  take  their  names  from  the  hereditary 
occupations  of  their  members.  Ask  one  of  these  men  whether 
he  is  a  Vaisya  or  a  Shudra  and  he  will  say,  "  I  don't  know  any- 
thing about  that.  I'm  just  a  metal-worker,  or  a  carpenter," 
etc.  For  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  the  son  is  expected  to 
follow  his  father's  occupation.^ 

But  the  negative  effect  of  caste  is  greater  than  its  positive 
effect.  One  must  not  marry  outside  one's  caste;  one  must  eat 
only  certain  kinds  of  food,  and  food  cooked  only  by  certain 
people;  one  must  never  eat  with  a  man  of  lower  caste  than  one's 
self  or  receive  water  from  him;  one  must  not  cross  the  ocean. 
Even  so  much  as  to  touch  an  Outcaste  brings  contamination. 
The  result  is  a  spirit  of  complacent  superiority  and  snobbish- 
ness on  the  part  of  a  large  number  of  high-caste  people,  and  of 
servility  on  the  part  of  the  Outcastes  that  probably  is  not  to  be 
equaled  elsewhere  in  the  world.  The  Outcaste's  shadow  defiles 
a  Brahmin.  One  sees  Brahmin  children  driving  away  other 
children  with  proud  looks  and  angry  words  because  the  latter 
had  presumed  to  approach  them.  And  the  European  himself 
as  he  threads  his  way  through  the  narrow  streets  of  Benares 
will  see  the  crowd  of  bathers  returning  from  the  Ganges  care- 
fully keep  their  distance  from  him  as  they  pass,  lest  his  touch 
should  impart  impurity;  and  if  by  inadvertence  they  do  touch 
him,  they  will  sometimes  go  back  to  the  river  and  bathe  again 
to  wash  off  the  defilement.  Three  years  ago  in  a  town  in  the 
Northwest  of  India  a  Brahmin  child  fell  into  a  well.  All  the 
men  of  the  family  were  away  and  the  women  were  unable  to 

*  From  this  has  arisen  the  misleading  idea,  so  often  expressed,  that  caste 
is  more  a  matter  of  occupation  than  of  descent  (cf.,  for  instance,  the  quite 
erroneous  impression  concerning  caste  given  by  Price  Collier's  The  West  in 
the  East).  When  a  caste  is  named  for  the  occupation  of  its  members,  this 
does  not  mean  that  all  its  members  follow  the  occupation  in  question,  but 
that  the  majority  do.  Thus,  for  instance,  a  metal-worker  might  perfectly 
well  belong  to  the  "  Potter"  caste.  Occupation  seems  to  have  more  influence 
on  caste  than  it  really  does. 

125 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

reach  the  child.  A  "sweeper"  (one  of  the  lowest  of  Outcastes) 
ran  up  and  offered  to  go  down  into  the  well  and  rescue  the 
child,  but  his  services  were  spurned  and  the  child  was  allowed 
to  drown.  Better  death  than  the  defilement  of  child  and  well 
by  the  touch  of  a  sweeper.^ 

As  Farquhar  says,  these  Outcastes,  or  "Untouchables," 
form  one  of  the  largest  problems  of  modern  India.  "Though 
they  have  lived  beside  Hindus  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years,  so  that  they  have  absorbed  the  spirit  of  caste  and  certain 
rudimentar>'  religious  ideas  from  Hinduism,  yet  they  have  been 
treated  with  such  inhumanity  that  they  remain  to  this  day  in 
the  most  piteous  poverty',  dirt,  degradation,  and  superstition. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  live  in  the  same  village  with  Hindus. 
They  must  not  approach  a  high-caste  man,  for  their  shadow  pol- 
lutes. In  South  India  they  must  not  come  within  thirty  yards  of 
a  Brahmin;  and  they  are  usually  denied  the  use  of  public  wells, 
roads,  bridges,  and  ferries.  They  are  not  allowed  to  enter  Hindu 
temples.  Their  religion  is  in  the  main  an  attempt  to  pacify 
demons  and  evil  spirits.   They  number  some  fifty  millions."  ^ 

The  system,  though  it  may  seem  to  be  made  for  the  benefit 
of  the  higher  castes,  works  its  very  unfortunate  limitations 
among  them  as  well.  Thus  the  absurd  prohibition  against  in- 
terdining  is  increasingly  felt  among  intelligent  men;  and  the 
taboo  against  crossing  the  ocean  is  a  direct  blow  at  education 
and  culture.  In  the  larger  centers  some  of  these  taboos  are 
being  relaxed,  but  in  the  greater  part  of  India  they  are  care- 
fully enforced  by  the  caste  authorities.  A  man  may  believe 
what  he  likes,  he  may  deny  all  the  gods  and  indulge  in  certain 
vices  and  crimes,  and  still  retain  his  good  standing  in  the  caste; 
but  let  him  accept  a  cup  of  water  from  a  man  of  lower  caste, 
and  he  shall  answer  for  it  before  the  tribunal.  If  found  guilty 
he  will  do  well  to  undergo  all  the  purificatory'  ceremonies  to 
which  he  will  be  condemned,^  for  if  he  refuse,  the  full  strength 

1  Saint  Nihal  Singh,  "India's  Untouchables,"  Contemporary  Review  for 
March,  1913,  p.  376. 

*  The  Crov-m  of  Hinduism,  p.  162. 

'  These  consist  usually  in  the  payment  of  a  large  fine  (commonly  appro- 
priated to  defraying  the  cost  of  a  banquet  to  all  the  caste)  and  in  swallowing 
a  pill  prepared  by  the  proper  authorities  and  composed  of  the  "five  products 
of  the  cow."  The  pill  is  supposed  to  be  spiritually  as  helpful  as  it  is  physi- 
cally disgusting. 

126 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

of  social  persecution  will  burst  upon  him.  His  father  will  turn 
him  from  his  house;  or  if  he  be  himself  the  head  of  a  house  his 
relatives  will  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  him;  his  friends 
will  "cut"  him;  and  he  may  even  find  it  hard  to  induce  any  one 
to  work  for  him  —  for  the  different  castes  sympathize  with  each 
other  and  aid  each  other  in  enforcing  caste  restrictions. 

I  wish  it  were  possible  for  me  to  say  better  things  of  the  caste 
system  than  I  have  been  able  to  say.  Sister  Nivedita's  descrip- 
tion of  it,  as  being  practically  equivalent  to  our  conventions 
about  "honor"  and  "noblesse  oblige,"  seems  to  me  an  astound- 
ingly  misleading  half-truth,  which,  while  it  has  some  basis  in 
analog}',  quite  ignores  the  distinctive  features  of  the  system. 
Doubtless  in  primitive  times  caste  had  its  use;  but  it  is  to-day 
an  inexcusable  anachronism  which  would  in  fact  collapse  al- 
most at  once  if  it  were  not  sanctioned  and  supported  by  the 
Hindu  religion.  Fortunately  for  India  its  ancient  Dharma  is 
not  burdened  with  many  a  weight  so  heavy  as  this. 

The  Hindu  family  is  an  immeasurably  finer  institution.  In 
it  both  the  beauty  and  the  weakness  of  the  Indian  character 
and  of  the  whole  Indian  point  of  view  find  themselves  reflected 
to  a  striking  degree :  —  and  this  because  in  fact,  to  a  ver>^  large 
extent,  they  grow  out  of  it.  The  contrast  between  the  Indian 
family  and  the  European  is  chiefly  the  contrast  between  social 
solidarity  and  individualism.  The  European  family  is  a  group 
of  individuals;  the  Indian  is  an  organism  with  various  mem- 
bers. This,  of  course,  is  an  exaggerated  form  of  statement,  but 
it  suggests  the  contrast  I  have  in  mind.  In  India  the  family  has 
still  retained  its  ancient  patriarchal  form.  When  the  young 
man  marries  he  brings  his  wife  home  to  his  father's  house, 
where  his  older  brothers  and  their  wives  and  children  are  living, 
and  v/here  even,^  one  is  subject  to  the  head  of  the  house.  So 
long  as  the  common  progenitor  lives,  the  household  is  kept 
together  and  is  under  his  sway,  the  members  sometimes  num- 
bering seventy  or  eighty,  or  even  more.  Grandchildren  and 
great-grandchildren  are  bom  in  it;  cousins  are  brought  up  like 
brothers;  all  the  women  are  like  mothers  to  all  the  children; 
each  member  of  the  household  who  earns  anything  by  his  labor 
puts  his  earnings  into  the  common  fund  which  is  disposed  of 
by  the  head  of  the  house  for  the  common  good;  all  interests  are 
127 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

pooled,  and  the  only  real  interests  to  be  considered  are  in  the 
interests  of  all.  It  is  evident  that  children  reared  in  such  a 
family  will  receive  a  very  different  training  from  ours  and  will 
grow  up  with  a  point  of  view  radically  different  from  that 
which  the  West  gives  its  youth.  In  such  a  family  there  will 
be  relatively  little  individual  responsibility  for  any  but  the 
head  of  the  house,  relatively  little  training  in  independence 
and  initiative.  On  the  other  hand,  there  will  be  equally  slight 
development  of  the  coarser  and  more  selfish  aspect  of  individ- 
ualism which  is  perhaps  the  fundamental  danger  of  our  Western 
culture.  The  Indian  individual  is  lost  in  the  family  and  the 
feeling  of  self  and  of  selfish  interests  and  rights  gets  but  scant 
nourishment.  And  in  a  sense  the  whole  of  Indian  society,  of 
Indian  history,  of  Indian  philosophy  and  religion,  is  a  reflection 
of  this  aspect  of  the  Indian  family. 

The  Indian  ideal  is  that  the  father  should  have  no  will  save 
the  welfare  of  the  family  and  that  all  the  other  members  should 
have  no  will  as  opposed  to  his.  And  the  family  is  a  unit  which 
not  only  is  prior  to  its  members,  but  which  includes  within  it- 
self the  dead  as  well  as  the  living.  In  fact  the  first  duty  of  the 
living  is  to  be  faithful  to  the  dead.  A  belief  has  been  handed 
down  in  the  Indian  family  which  had  its  origin  long  before  the 
Aryans  entered  India  —  a  belief,  namely,  that  the  fathers  who 
have  gone  before  are  in  some  way  and  to  some  extent  dependent 
still  on  the  care  of  their  descendants.  With  this  belief  has  come 
the  custom  of  making  simple  offerings  at  regular  times  to  the 
souls  of  the  departed,  a  ceremony  known  as  shraddha  and  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  chief  of  all  religious  duties.  Only  a  male 
descendant  can  offer  the  shraddha  rites;  hence  the  importance 
of  the  survival  of  the  family  in  the  male  line ;  and  hence  also  the 
prime  duty  of  every  man  to  marry  and  have  a  son.  A  son  is  a 
debt  which  each  man  owes  his  ancestors;  and  so  important  is 
the  fulfillment  of  this  duty  that  marriage  can  not  be  left  to  the 
caprice  of  the  individual,  but  is  a  family  affair,  which  the  head 
of  the  house  must  arrange  and  in  which  the  prospective  bride 
and  bridegroom  have  only  to  submit.  In  India  marriage  has 
nothing  to  do  with  falling  in  love,  nothing  to  do  with  mutual 
passion  and  individual  choice  and  romantic  sentiment.  Mar- 
riage is  a  religious  duty  and  a  religious  sacrament,  and  its  aim 
128 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

is  not  the  satisfaction  of  the  individual,  but  the  welfare  of  the 
family  as  a  whole.  From  this  point  of  view  even  polygamy  is 
permitted  and  sometimes  practiced.  If  after  many  years  of 
married  life  no  children  are  born,  the  husband  may  take  a  sec- 
ond wife  in  order  to  have  a  son  who  shall  continue  the  family 
name  and  offer  the  shraddha  rites.  This  is  of  rare  occurrence, 
but  the  fact  that  it  is  regarded  as  legal  or  even  laudable,  and 
that  it  is  not  infrequently  the  first  wife  herself  who  urges  the 
second  marriage,  emphasizes  in  an  extreme  form  the  Indian 
view  of  the  family  life. 

Not  only  must  the  son  subject  his  will  to  the  will  of  his  father: 
the  wife  must  merge  her  personality  in  that  of  her  husband.  In 
Hindu  theory  a  woman  is  always  subject  to  somebody  —  to  her 
parents  before  marriage  and  then  to  her  husband,  and  if  he 
should  die,  to  his  parents  or  her  own  again  or  to  some  male 
relative.  Self-abnegation  is  perhaps  a  peculiarly  Indian  virtue, 
and  Hindu  society  seems  to  have  been  especially  constructed 
with  a  view  to  developing  this  virtue  in  its  women.  "To  learn 
how  she  can  offer  most,"  writes  Sister  Nivedita,  "becomes  the 
aim  of  the  young  wife's  striving.  She  cooks  for  her  husband 
and  serves  him,  sitting  before  him  as  he  eats  to  fan  away  the 
flies.  As  a  disciple  might,  she  prostrates  herself  before  him, 
touching  his  feet  with  her  head  before  receiving  his  blessing. 
It  is  not  equality.  No.  But  who  talks  of  a  vulgar  equality,  asks 
the  Hindu  wife,  when  she  may  have  instead  the  unspeakable 
blessedness  of  offering  worship?"  ^  Among  the  lower  classes 
the  women  have  considerable  liberty,  and  one  sees  them  in  the 
streets  and  markets  and  working  in  the  fields.  But  among  the 
higher  ranks  of  Hindu  society  the  wife  is  secluded  within  the 
zenana  or  women's  apartments,  with  her  mother-in-law  and 
her  various  sisters-in-law.  She  sees  no  men  but  those  of  her 
household,  and  with  all  of  these  but  her  own  husband  her  rela- 
tions are  most  formal,  and  she  knows  little  of  the  outer  world. 
As  some  one  has  put  it,  the  windows  of  an  Indian  home  all  open 
inward.  Moreover,  as  Indian  girls  are  married  at  an  extremely 
early  age  they  have  little  time  for  school,  and  in  fact  receive  but 

1  The  Web  of  Indian  Life,  p.  45.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
condition  of  Indian  women  only  from  books  written  in  criticism  of  Hindu- 
ism should  read  chapters  n  to  vi  of  The  Web. 

129 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

slight  "book-learning."  In  the  deeper  things  and  the  more 
practical  things  of  life  they  are  indeed  far  from  "uneducated," 
yet  of  the  larger  interests  of  the  world  they  know  but  little  and 
are  ill-adapted  to  be  intellectual  companions  for  their  husbands 
or  to  guide  the  mental  development  of  their  children. 

This  narrow  and  shut-in  life  has  its  beauties  and  its  rewards. 
Within  her  home  the  woman  has  her  own  power  and  her  uni- 
versal respect.  On  the  preceding  page  I  said  that  in  theory  a 
woman  is  always  subject  to  some  male  member  of  the  family. 
This  is  the  theory ;  but  in  practice  the  wife  or  the  mother  of  the 
head  of  the  house  (or  karta)  has  as  much  authority  in  domes- 
tic matters  as  he.  This  is  true  even  if  she  happens  to  be  a  widow 
—  as  the  mother  of  the  karta,  of  course,  always  is.  She  may 
consult  her  son  (or  husband)  if  she  likes,  but  there  is  no  rule 
about  it.  And  her  authority  she  deserves  and  earns  by  constant 
devotion  to  the  physical  and  spiritual  interests  of  the  family. 
"She  superintends  if  she  does  not  actually  do  all  the  cooking, 
and  her  life  is  one  of  strenuous  activity  and  self-denial.  If  she 
is  the  widowed  mother  of  the  karta,  she  lives  upon  the  coarsest 
of  meals  and  wears  the  commonest  of  raiment.  She  works  from 
morning  to  night.  She  fasts  twice  or  thrice  a  month  and  keeps 
vigils  for  securing  the  blessings  of  the  gods  toward  her  children, 
and,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  commands  her  daughters 
and  daughters-in-law  to  do  the  same.  ...  It  is  her  pride  to 
enforce  purity  and  cleanliness  with  the  utmost  rigor.  She 
bathes  and  changes  her  clothes  half  a  dozen  times  a  day.  .  .  . 
The  house  is  washed  many  times  a  day,  and  the  cooking 
utensils  undergo  the  pangs  of  constant  friction.  .  .  .  And  the 
other  members  of  the  family  must  follow  her  lead  in  this 
respect."  ^ 

Perhaps  nowhere  in  the  world  is  there  more  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  mother  than  in  India.  Here  as  elsewhere  self- 
renunciation  brings  its  unsought  rewards,  and  the  meek  inherit 
the  earth.  This  high  reverence  paid  to  her  is  based  on  her 
devotion  to  her  husband,  a  devotion  which  Hindu  society 
insists  shall  be  so  complete  that  if  the  husband  dies  the  wife 
must  never  even  think  of  marrying  again. 

"Let  her  follow  the  ways  and  rules  of  Brahmacharis,"  says 
>  W.  J.  Wilkins,  Modern  Hinduism  (London,  Unwin,  1887),  p.  24. 
130 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

Manu  of  the  widow,  "improving  her  soul  and  her  knowledge  by 
the  way  of  study  and  service  of  the  elders,  in  place  of  the  lost 
way  of  service  of  her  husband  and  children.  Let  her  triumph 
over  her  body  and  walk  in  the  path  of  purity.  .  .  .  Unto  heaven 
shall  she  go  to  join  her  partner-soul  if  she  be  thus  faithful  to  his 
memory  and  do  deeds  of  good  during  the  rest  of  her  physical 
life."  ^  Marriage  is  for  eternity  in  India,  and  in  the  belief  of 
many  a  Hindu  a  faithful  and  loving  husband  and  wife  are  re- 
united in  marriage  not  only  in  the  heaven  that  follows  this  life, 
but  in  the  earthly  reincarnation  which  shall  for  them  follow 
heaven.  Before  the  English  came  the  Hindu  widow  used  to 
immolate  herself  upon  her  husband's  funeral  pyre  —  thus  com- 
pleting in  a  last  glorious  act  of  utter  abnegation  a  life  that  had 
been  one  long  self-surrender.  English  law  put  a  stop  to  this  cus- 
tom in  1829,  but  the  result  has  been  the  turning  of  the  rest  of 
the  widow's  life  into  a  prolonged  burning  of  self.  The  position 
and  life  of  the  Indian  widow  varies,  of  course,  with  the  person- 
ality of  the  woman  and  with  the  family  in  which  her  lot  is  cast. 
From  writers  like  Dubois  one  would  judge  that  she  is  always  an 
object  of  heartless  persecution,  a  sad  and  unwilling  drudge; 
while  Sister  Nivedita  and  her  school  would  have  one  suppose 
that  the  Hindu  widow  is  ever  loved  and  fondly  cared  for  and 
that  she  becomes  a  nun  given  over  to  good  works,  which  spring 
spontaneously  from  her  sorrow-crowned  character.  Both  views 
are  doubtless  true  in  their  limited  way,  and  neither  should  be 
accepted  without  modification  from  the  other.  Certainly  the 
widow's  lot  is  a  sad  one  at  best;  and  stem  Hindu  theory  be- 
lieves that  it  should  be  sad,  that  for  the  widow  sadness  is  better 
than  joy.  And  doubtless  those  widows  who  acquiesce  in  this 
judgment  and  give  themselves  up  willingly  to  a  life  of  utter 
self-abnegation  and  service  shine  at  the  end  as  gold  purified 
by  fire.  As  the  recent  quotation  from  Wilkins  shows,  the  wid- 
owed mother  of  the  head  of  the  house  has  a  position  not  only  of 
respect  and  affection,  but  of  authority  and  power.  Younger 
widows,  of  course,  have  no  such  authority,  but  they  have  nearly 
as  much  work,  and  if  the  service  be  not  willing  much  of  it  must 
be  performed  none  the  less,  and  for  the  young  woman  who  has 

1  V,  158-60.   Quoted  by  Bhagavan  Das,  The  Laws  of  Manu  (Benares, 
T.P.S.,  1910),  p.  212. 

131 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

no  ambition  to  be  a  martyr  or  a  nun  the  fate  of  widowhood  in 
India  is  very  hard  indeed. 

On  the  whole,  the  Indian  home  is  a  very  narrow  and  limited 
place,  but  it  may  be  a  very  sweet  and  holy  place  as  well;  and  it 
has  produced  a  type  of  woman  who  knows  how  to  love  and  how 
to  suffer  and  be  faithful  and  lose  herself  in  those  she  loves:  a 
type  that  has  great  limitations,  but  which  is  not  without  a 
certain  lofty  beauty,  —  even  though  at  the  antipodes  from  that 
of  the  modern  militant  suffragette. 

The  family  relations  within  the  Indian  home  are  often  very 
sweet.  The  children  are  commonly  idolized  and  in  their  earlier 
years  allowed  to  have  very  nearly  their  own  way.  "Spoiled" 
children  are  almost  the  rule.  Miss  Munson  tells  of  a  boy  of 
eight,  chasing  his  mother  and  beating  her  very  severely  with  a 
stick  because  she  was  late  in  preparing  his  dinner.  And  she 
adds:  "On  the  whole  I  cannot  imagine  any  children  less  con- 
trolled than  those  of  India.  After  the  children  are  grown,  how- 
ever, they  show  an  attractive  reverence  and  dutifulness  to  the 
parents  unusual  in  the  West.  To  marry  against  the  parents* 
command,  to  resent  physical  punishment,  even  though  the 
receiver  far  exceed  the  giver  in  size,  or  to  grumble  against  the 
burden  of  an  aged  and  childish  parent,  would  be,  I  should  say, 
quite  foreign  to  the  East  Indian."  ^ 

The  affection  of  the  Indian  child  or  youth,  moreover,  extends 
in  very  real  strength  not  only  to  his  parents,  but  to  his  grand- 
parents as  well,  and  the  relation  between  distant  generations 
within  the  household  is  often  beautiful.  Devendranath  Tagore 
gives  in  his  "Autobiography"  a  glimpse  of  his  old  grandmother 
and  her  Hindu  piety  and  his  relation  to  her  as  a  boy:  — 

"My  grandmother  was  very  fond  of  me.  To  me  also  she  was 
all  in  all  during  the  days  of  my  childhood.  My  sleeping,  sitting, 
eating,  were  all  at  her  side.  Whenever  she  went  to  Kalighat  I 
used  to  accompany  her.  I  cried  bitterly  when  she  went  on  pil- 
grimages to  Jaganath  and  Brindaban  leaving  me  behind.  She 
was  a  deeply  religious  woman.  Every  day  she  used  to  bathe  in 
the  Ganges  very  early  in  the  morning ;  and  every  day  she  used 
to  weave  garlands  of  flowers  with  her  own  hands  for  the  Shal- 
gram.  Sometimes  she  used  to  take  a  vow  of  solar  adoration, 
^  Jungle  Days  (New  York,  Appleton,  1913),  p.  158. 
132 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

giving  offerings  to  the  sun  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  On  these 
occasions  I  used  to  be  with  her  on  the  terrace  in  the  sun.  At 
other  times  grandmother  used  to  hold  a  Vaishnavite  festival, 
and  the  whole  night  there  was  recitation  and  singing  of  hymns, 
the  noise  of  which  would  not  let  me  sleep.  She  used  to  look 
after  the  whole  household  and  do  much  work  with  her  own 
hands.  Owing  to  her  skill  in  housekeeping,  all  domestic  con- 
cerns worked  smoothly  under  her  guidance.  After  ever>^body 
else  had  taken  their  meals  she  would  eat,  and  always  food 
cooked  by  herself.  She  was  as  lovely  in  her  appearance  as  she 
was  skilled  in  her  work  and  steadfast  in  her  religous  faith. 
But  she  had  no  liking  for  the  frequent  visits  of  the  \'aishnavite 
priestess.  There  was  a  certain  freedom  of  mind  in  her,  together 
with  her  blind  faith  in  religion.  I  used  to  accompany  her  to  our 
old  family  house  to  see  the  family  idol.  But  I  did  not  like  to 
lea'.-e  her  and  go  to  the  outer  apartments.  I  would  sit  in  her  lap 
and  watch  ever\-thing  quietly  from  the  window."  ^ 

The  Hindu  emphasis  on  the  unselfishness  of  women  would 
naturally  tend,  one  would  suppose,  to  have  the  opposite  effect 
upon  the  men.  And  indeed  to  some  extent  it  does."  Yet  the 
3'oung  man  as  well  as  the  young  woman  learns  to  put  the  com- 
mon interest  of  the  family  before  his  own  and  to  forget  himself 
in  the  larger  whole.  And  beside  this  general  influence  Hindu- 
ism has  for  him  a  lifelong  training  of  ritualistic  obser\-ance 
which  gives  almost  every  act  of  his  life  a  religious  significance. 

In  the  "good  old  days"  to  which  almost  all  intelligent  Hin- 
dus look  back  with  pride  and  longing,  and  which  they  recon- 
struct in  part  out  of  their  own  imagination,  —  in  the  good  old 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  1-2. 

*  The  Indian  man  is  quite  lacking  in  many  of  the  delicate  courtesies 
toward  women  which  we  of  the  West  regard  as  an  indispensable  sign  of  good- 
breeding.  In  part  this  is  doubtless  due  to  a  mere  difference  of  conventions. 
But  it  also  goes  deeper  than  that,  and  is  largely  the  result  of  the  seclusion  of 
Indian  women.  The  Indian  of  the  upper  classes  never  meets  with  any  ladies 
of  his  own  rank  outside  his  own  household  and  hence  does  not  know  how  to 
act  with  them  and  has  no  training  in  self-control  in  relation  to  the  other  sex. 
An  English  lady  who  entertains  many  Oriental  college  students  in  her  home 
near  Birmingham  tells  me  she  has  had  to  give  up  inviting  Indians  because 
they  do  not  know  how  to  treat  ladies  properly.  And  an  Indian  friend  of  mine 
says  that  he  fears  four  out  of  five  young  Indians,  if  left  alone  with  a  lady, 
would  go  wrong.  Their  characters  are  weak  because  they  have  been  so 
assiduously  kept  from  temptation. 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

days  when  the  conditions  still  existed  out  of  which  the  Hindu 
system  developed  and  which  it  was  meant  to  meet,  —  the  life 
of  each  male  member  of  the  three  upper  or  Aryan  castes  was 
supposed  to  be  divided  into  four  periods,  provided,  of  course, 
that  one  survived  to  a  fairly  advanced  age.  And  though  not 
many  Indians  to-day  complete  all  the  stages  of  this  fourfold 
life,  it  is  still  the  ideal.  Infancy  and  early  childhood  are  not  in- 
cluded in  these  four  stages,  and  the  boy's  real  life  is  supposed 
to  begin  at  the  ceremony  of  initiation  which  marks  the  end  of 
childhood,  —  namely,  the  investiture  of  the  sacred  triple  cord. 
This  ceremony  has  always  been  regarded  as  of  great  impor- 
tance, signalizing  the  introduction  of  the  youth  into  a  new  life  — 
the  life  not  of  the  flesh,  which  as  a  child  he  has  been  living,  but 
the  life  of  the  spirit.  For  this  reason  members  of  the  three 
upper  castes,  who  alone  are  permitted  to  wear  the  sacred  triple 
cord,  are  known  as  "the  twice-born."  The  ceremony  is  per- 
formed when  the  boy  is  between  five  and  nine  years  of  age,^  and 
is  a  very  elaborate  affair.  It  requires  some  three  or  four  days 
for  its  performance  and  is  done  with  the  assistance  of  many 
Brahmins,  who  on  all  great  occasions  are  present  in  large  num- 
bers and  must  be  ceremoniously  fed.  At  this  time  also  the  boy 
is  usually  taught  the  Gayatri,  or  invocation  to  the  sun,  which 
is  the  universal  prayer  of  Hinduism ;  or  if  he  belong  to  some  sect 
he  is  given  by  his  guru  or  religious  teacher  some  secret  mantra 
which  he  must  learn  and  a  copy  of  which  he  must  wear  on  his 
arm  or  around  his  neck,  and  which  he  must  never  divulge  to 
others. 

These  mantras  are  of  extreme  importance  in  Hinduism,  and 
the  repetition  of  them  forms  the  central  part  of  most  ceremon- 
ies. A  mantra  is  a  verse,  usually  taken  from  the  Veda,  the  mere 
repetition  of  which  is  supposed  to  produce  supernatural  effects. 
This  idea  Is  evidently  the  survival  of  very  primitive  notions 
about  magic.  Magical  formulas,  exactly  on  a  par  with  Hindu 
mantras,  are  to  be  met  with  In  every  ancient  and  every  primi- 
tive religion.  The  odd  thing  Is  that  this  childish  superstition 
should  have  survived  in  such  strength  among  men  as  intelligent 
as  are  many  modern  Hindus.  Most  Hindus  view  the  mantras 
in  the  old  magical  way,  while  a  few  —  especially  those  under 

1  This  is  the  theory.  In  practice  it  is  sometimes  postponed  several  years. 
134 


ERRATA 

Page  135,  lines  21-22,  read  ''grihastha' 
Page  ij6,  line  8,  read  "grihastha"' 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

the  influence  of  the  Theosophical  Society  —  seek  to  justify 
the  use  of  mantras  by  appeal  to  "modern  science."  For  the 
mantras,  it  seems,  produce  "vibrations"  in  the  ether  which 
affect  the  various  sheaths  of  the  soul  in  various  ways.  Hence 
mantras  are  of  great  service  in  tuning  the  spirit  properly  at  the 
time  of  initiation  and  at  all  the  other  great  turning-points  of 
life. 

Once  initiated,  the  boy  enters  into  the  first  or  student  stage 
of  the  life  of  the  twice-born,  and  is  known  as  a  brahmachari.  In 
the  old  days  the  youth  was  now  sent  away  from  home  to  study 
the  religion  and  philosophy  of  his  race  with  some  learned  and 
saintly  man  in  a  secluded  place,  and  there  he  remained  till  past 
twenty,  when  he  returned  home  to  be  married  to  a  bride  of  his 
father's  choosing.  This  excellent  custom  has  long  since  been 
given  up  for  the  majority,  and  the  practice  of  marrying  off  the 
boys  while  still  very  young  has  robbed  the  brahmachari  stage 
of  most  of  its  years  and  most  of  its  significance. 

Marriage  is  a  very  important  and  sacred  sacrament  for  the 
Hindu,  and  like  every  other  turning-point  of  life  is  regarded 
not  as  a  civil  but  as  a  religious  act.  It  also  marks  the  young 
man's  entrance  into  the  second  stage  of  life,  that  of  the 
grahastha  or  householder.  His  duty  now  is  to  be  an  honorable 
and  useful  member  of  society,  to  beget  sons  to  carry  on  the 
name  of  the  family  and  the  offerings  to  the  ancestors,  and  to 
act,  when  the  time  comes,  as  the  responsible  head  of  the  house. 
The  third  ideal  stage  of  life  for  the  twice-born  is  that  of  the 
vanaprastha,  or  "forest  dweller,"  as  it  is  usually  translated. 
This  name,  however,  must  not  be  taken  to  imply  that  one  who 
has  entered  this  stage  lives  far  from  the  haunts  of  men.  The 
ideal  is  rather  that  the  man  whose  active  work  in  the  world  is 
done,  and  whose  children  are  now  grown  and  self-supporting 
so  that  they  no  longer  need  his  aid,  should  retire  with  his  wife 
from  active  pursuits,  and,  living  in  the  outskirts  of  his  village 
or  city,  have  leisure  for  self-culture  and  for  the  more  general 
service  of  the  community  through  the  accumulated  wisdom 
of  his  years.  Finally,  leaving  his  wife  and  all  his  possessi>ons 
but  a  staff  and  begging-bowl,  he  should  enter  the  fourth  stage, 
that  of  the  sannyasi.  The  ideal  for  this  final  stage  of  life  (as  an 
Indian  friend  of  mine  puts  it)  was  that  "as  an  old  man  one 

135 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

should  spend  one's  last  years  in  meditation,  and  should  wander 
at  will  —  not  as  a  beggar,  but  as  a  revered  and  welcome  guest, 
whose  presence  disseminated  goodness  and  blessing." 

The  third  of  these  stages  has  to-day  practically  ceased  to 
exist,  and  though  there  are  a  good  many  sannyasis  in  India  the 
fourth  stage  is  far  from  forming  the  regular  end  of  the  twice- 
born's  earthly  pilgrimage.  Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
grahastha  or  householder's  condition  has  steadily  encroached 
upon  the  others  and  constitutes  for  most  twice-born  Hindus 
to-day  almost  the  whole  of  life.  But  the  life  of  the  ideal  house- 
holder is  by  no  means  only  a  worldly  affair.  The  faithful  Hindu, 
to  whatever  stage  of  life  he  belongs,  is  constantly  reminded  that 
every  day  and  every  hour  is  sacred,  and  that  the  purification 
and  development  of  the  soul  is  the  chief  end  of  man.  When  he 
awakes  in  the  morning  his  first  thought  must  be  a  prayer,  and 
an  elaborate  ritual  is  mapped  out  for  him  which,  if  carried  out 
completely,  would  leave  little  opportunity  in  his  whole  day  for 
anything  else.^  Not  many  Hindus  to-day  perform  all  the  rites 
recommended;  but  all  of  them  are  very  faithful  in  observing 
the  sacred  bathings  which  their  religion  commands,  and  most 
of  them  offer  at  least  a  few  of  the  prayers  and  pious  observances 
which  form  so  important  a  part  of  their  sacred  Dharma.  To 
Hinduism  cleanliness  is  not  next  to  godliness:  it  is  a  very  part  of 
godliness.  The  morning  bath  is  a  form  of  prayer  and  it  must  be 
performed  not  hastily  nor  thoughtlessly,  but  seriously,  soberly, 
and  with  the  proper  prayers  and  meditations.  For  the  bath 
should  be  spiritual  as  well  as  physical;  the  Hindu  seeks  to  begin 
the  day  with  a  pure  body  and  also  a  pure  soul.  In  theory,  the 
bath  should  if  possible  be  performed  in  the  Ganges  or  some 
sacred  body  of  water;  if  this  be  inconvenient  the  domestic  basin 
will  do,  but  one's  mind  should  be  fixed  upon  the  waters  of  the 
sacred  stream.  Various  prayers  and  meditations  are  recom- 
mended for  use  before,  during,  and  after  the  bath,  together 
with  the  repetition  of  various  divine  names,  reading  from  the 
Sacred  Scripture,  breathing  exercises,  the  placing  of  the  fingers 
in  various  positions,  libations  of  water,  etc.  Some  of  these  pray- 
ers sound  to  us  extremely  formal  and  some  even  absurd,  while 

'  For  a  minute  account  of  this  entire  programme  see  Dubois,  op.  cit., 
part  II,  chap.  vii. 

i:.6 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

others  are  petitions  of  a  genuinely  moral  sort.^  A  surprisingly 
large  number  of  Hindus  are  faithful  to  the  often  irrational 
minutiae  of  this  ritual;  while  nearly  all  observe,  together  with 
their  bath,  the  recitation  of  the  Gayatri  and  meditation  on  the 
mysterious  and  divine  syllable  Aum  or  Om.  The  Gayatri,  as  I 
have  said,  is  an  invocation  to  the  sun  and  is  the  most  universal 
and  sacred  form  of  prayer  in  India.-  The  following  is  a  transla- 
tion of  it:  —  "Aum,  earth,  sky,  heaven,  Aum.  Let  us  meditate 
upon  that  excellent  vivifier,  the  Light  Divine,  which  enlightens 
our  understanding!"  This  Vedic  verse  (which  every  good 
Hindu  should  repeat  from  eight  to  several  hundred  times  a  day) 
is  held  to  contain,  if  rightly  interpreted,  the  essence  of  all 
true  religion  and  philosophy.  And  as  the  Gayatri  is  the  quint- 
essence of  religious  philosophy,  so  is  the  syllable  AUM  the 
quintessence  of  the  Gayatri.  It  is  a  symbol,  in  short,  for  all 
that  the  Hindu  believes  concerning  God  and  the  soul,  and  as 
such  the  repetition  of  it,  together  with  the  repetition  of  the 
Gayatri,  is  well  adapted  to  raise  his  thoughts  to  the  highest 
plane  and  to  put  him  into  the  devotional  state  of  mind.  Prot- 
estant Christians  may  perhaps  fail  to  understand  this;  but  the 
Catholic  Church  has  long  acted  upon  the  principle  that  the 
repetition  of  certain  familiar  words  may  be  of  assistance  to  the 
mind  in  meditating  upon  themes  which,  though  not  literally 
expressed  by  the  words,  have  become  closely  associated  with 
them  through  many  past  repetitions.  Witness  the  constant 
use  of  the  Rosary,  and  the  real  devotion  which  it  often  is  a 
means  of  arousing  and  sustaining.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
though  the  Gayatri  and  the  syllable  Aum  are  often  repeated  by 
Hindus  in  a  purely  formal  and  mechanical  manner,  with  many 
a  pious  soul  they  have  the  same  religious  value  that  the  Rosary 
has  with  the  good  Catholic. 

After  the  morning  bath  and  morning  prayer,  there  is  a  long 
list  of  ceremonies  for  the  Hindu  to  perform  during  the  rest  of 

*  For  many  samples  of  them  see  Dubois,  loc.  cit. 

*  It  is  usually  said  as  a  prayer  to  the  Deva  Surya,  the  sun  god,  and  one 
should  stand  facing  the  sun  while  repeating  it.  Some,  and  especially  the 
more  philosophical,  do  not  regard  the  Gayatri  as  a  prayer,  but  as  a  form  of 
meditation  on  the  ultimate  and  impersonal  Reality.  Some,  in  repeating  it, 
seek  to  absorb  part  of  the  physical  and  ethereal  radiance  that  comes  from 
the  Lord  of  Day. 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

the  day  if  he  has  the  time  and  the  devotion;  and  all  but  the 
more  lax  perform  at  least  the  household  puja  before  each  meal. 
And  when  night  comes,  the  day  ends  with  a  prayer  as  it  began. 
And  life  is  like  the  day.  It  begins  with  the  rites  of  religion  at 
birth.  Each  of  its  greater  and  lesser  turning-points  is  sanctified 
by  some  religious  ceremony.  And  when  the  man  dies  his  body 
is  religiously  burned,  and  if  possible  his  ashes  are  thrown  into 
the  Ganges  or  some  other  sacred  stream  —  the  funeral  cere- 
monies and  offerings  to  his  spirit  being  continued  usually  for 
ten  days.  The  last  act  in  his  drama  is  in  a  sense  an  endless  one: 
for  it  is  the  shraddha  offering,  which  his  son  begins  for  his  spe- 
cial benefit  two  or  three  weeks  after  his  death,  and  which  is  con- 
tinued for  him  and  for  all  the  dead  of  the  family  at  regular 
intervals  as  long  as  the  family  is  represented  by  a  male  de- 
scendant upon  earth.  These  shraddha  rites  consist  chiefly  in  the 
offering  of  rice-balls  to  the  dead,  with  the  repetition  of  the  suit- 
able mantras,  the  ceremony  ending,  as  most  religious  ceremonies 
end  in  India,  with  the  feeding  of  Brahmins.  The  conception  is 
that  the  funeral  rites  will  help  the  departed  onward  from  the 
ghost  world  {preta  loka)  to  the  heaven  of  the  fathers  {pitri  loka) ; 
while  the  rice-balls  and  offerings  of  the  shraddha  ceremony 
will  develop  and  support  him  there  and  acquire  merit  which  he 
may  use  in  his  further  progress.  Very  evidently  we  have  here 
the  remains  of  at  least  two  quite  different  concepts,  the  ani- 
mistic idea  of  the  ghost  which  must  be  fed,  and  the  large,  moral 
conception  of  transmigration.  The  former  of  these  goes  back 
to  extremely  primitive  times,  and  is  quite  out  of  keeping  with 
the  more  philosophic  Hindu  conceptions  which  are  many 
thousand  years  younger  than  it.  And  in  this  respect  shraddha 
is  very  properly  Hindu;  for  the  ritual  as  well  as  the  creed  of 
Hinduism  includes  all  manner  of  contradictory  elements,  the 
primitive,  animistic,  and  magical  existing  alongside  of  elements 
full  of  spiritual  symbolism.  And  so  the  whole  of  the  Hindu's 
life  is  punctuated  with  nonsense  or  with  philosophy,  according 
as  he  takes  it.  The  spiritual  man,  by  making  the  most  of  what 
he  finds,  and  reading  into  it  a  good  deal  of  symbolism  (often 
justified  by  good  taste  rather  than  by  history),  is  able  to  get 
from  the  religious  observances  of  the  Hindu  Dharma  much 
genuinely  religious  nourishment  for  the  spiritual  life ;  while  the 
138 


THE   HINDU   DHARMA 

rank  and  file  of  Hindus,  who  (like  the  rank  and  file  in  some 
other  places)  are  likely  to  think  that  they  shall  be  heard  for 
their  much  speaking,  find  in  the  observances  of  tradition  cer- 
tain fortunate  formulas  and  lucky  acts  which  are  magical 
short-cuts  to  all  sorts  of  desirable  goals,  and  which,  instead  of 
being  incentives  to  moral  endeavor,  may  often  be  regarded  as 
substitutes  for  it.  Unto  the  pure  all  things  are  pure,  and  Hindu 
worship,  like  other  worships,  depends  on  the  worshiper. 

And  yet  this  much  must  be  said :  that  the  life  of  the  Hindu  is 
essentially  a  religions  life.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  that  it  is  a 
superstitious  life  or  one  filled  with  pious  performances.  It  is 
that,  but  it  is  more  than  that.  It  is  a  life  lived  in  conscious  and 
constant  recognition  of  a  wider  environment  than  the  merely 
immediate  and  physical;  and  in  unfailing  realization  of  relations 
that  bind  human  life  to  a  supernatural  world.  We  may  smile  at 
the  particular  rites  by  which  the  Hindu  expresses  his  attitude 
toward  Reality- ;  but  the  attitude  itself  must  command  the  re- 
spect of  ever>'  one  who  respects  humanity  at  all.  The  Hindu 
believes  that  humanity's  really  significant  environment  is  a 
spiritual  environment ;  that  the  physical  world  about  us  is  only 
the  garment  through  which  the  spiritual  Reality  dimly  shines; 
and  that  the  one  important  question  is  the  eternal  destiny  of 
the  soul.  And  the  Hindu  sees  in  his  Dharma  a  system  of  train- 
ing for  the  spirit  in  its  fateful  struggle  with  a  world  of  matter, 
by  the  aid  of  which  it  may  win  its  freedom  and  come  to  its  own 
at  last.  Many,  indeed,  —  perhaps  most,  —  see  this  but  dimly; 
but  in  the  background  it  is  always  there.  And  underneath  all 
the  strange  noises  of  Hinduism,  like  the  distant  murmur  of  the 
sea,  there  sounds  ever  the  far-oflf  music  of  the  soul. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TEACHERS,    PRIESTS,    AND  HOLY   MEN 

ONE'S  opinion  of  the  value  of  Hindu  education  will  depend 
largely  on  one's  notions  of  the  nature  of  education  in  gen- 
eral. As  to  book-learning,  there  is  certainly  little  enough  of  it 
in  India.  Yet  fortunately  there  still  remains  a  goodly  share  of 
that  training  and  culture  through  example  and  tradition  which, 
in  the  ancient  world  at  any  rate,  often  made  cultured  men  of 
the  illiterate.  The  Indian  child  in  a  conservative  and  pious 
Hindu  family  absorbs,  with  his  mother's  milk  and  with  the  air 
he  breathes,  the  ancient  customs  of  his  country,  its  ideals  and 
its  moral  practices  and  religious  views.  He  is  brought  up  in  an 
atmosphere  of  worship  and  faith  and  of  dignified  and  courteous 
manners;  and  courtesy,  faith,  and  worship  thus  become  his 
second  nature.  Even  of  philosophy  he  acquires  an  elementary 
knowledge,  quite  as  a  matter  of  course.^  Naturally  everything 
here  depends  on  family  customs  and  local  traditions;  and 
among  the  lower  castes,  where  Hinduism  is  at  its  weakest  and 
its  worst,  the  training  of  the  children  is  correspondingly  neg- 
lected, and  the  effect  of  example  and  influence  may  be  posi- 
tively harmful. 

Of  explicit  religious  teaching  there  is  less  than  one  would 
perhaps  expect,  and  among  the  lower  classes,  in  fact,  hardly 
any.  The  more  careful  Brahmin  fathers  of  the  old  school  teach 
their  sons  a  little  Sanskrit,  and  many  give  their  boys  a  some- 
what careful  religious  education.  The  priest  comes  regularly 
to  the  house,  and  has  the  boys  commit  to  memory  certain 
passages  from  some  of  the  Sacred  Books,  such  as  the  Maha- 
bharata,  and  also  teaches  them  to  perform  certain  ceremonies. 
Some  fathers  send  their  sons  to  Sanskrit  schools.  These 
schools  are  as  a  rule  simply  small  and  informal  classes  held 

1  Dr.  Taraporewalla,  of  the  Central  Hindu  College,  estimates  that  per- 
haps ten  per  cent  of  the  Hindus  understand  something  of  the  philosophy  of 
Hinduism. 

140 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

in  some  monastery  by  some  learned  monk.  In  recent  years, 
however,  a  few  large  schools,  for  boarders  as  well  as  day- 
scholars,  have  been  started  by  Hindu  reformers,  in  which  the 
boys  receive  a  good  modern  education  with  Sanskrit  and  reli- 
gious instruction  as  optional  or  required  subjects.  Most  fathers 
belonging  to  the  lower  classes,  and  even  the  majority  of  the 
"twiceborn,"  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  send  their  sons  to  reli- 
gious schools,  and  bring  them  up  quite  ignorant  of  Sanskrit. 
Many  Brahmin  fathers  who  know  no  Sanskrit  themselves  are 
careful  to  teach  their  sons  a  few  Sanskrit  prayers  (including  of 
course  the  Gayatri),  and  train  them  to  repeat  these  twice  a  day. 
But  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  son  is  never  taught  the  meaning 
of  these  prayers,  which  therefore  remain  to  him,  to  the  end  of 
his  days,  hardly  more  than  unintelligible  syllables  with  a  pious 
sound,  —  in  spite  of  which  he  continues  to  repeat  them  scrupu- 
lously, as  his  father  did  before  him.  The  great  majority  of 
Hindu  fathers,  if  we  count  in  the  lower  classes,  do  not  teach 
their  children  even  these  few  Sanskrit  prayers.  A  very  large 
proportion  ^  of  Hindu  children  thus  grow  up  without  any  sys- 
tematic and  explicit  religious  teaching  whatever.  Incidentally, 
of  course,  they  pick  up  more  or  less  from  the  conversation  and 
the  example  of  those  around  them.  They  see  their  father  or 
grandfather  do  puja  for  the  whole  family  in  the  home  and  they 
watch  all  the  members  of  the  household  bow  before  the  shrine, 
and  by  the  unescapable  force  of  imitation  they  are  constrained 
to  follow  their  example.  They  see  people  going  to  the  temples 
and  they  may  wander  in  themselves  and  watch  them  doing 
puja  there,  and  again  they  may  follow  the  example.  But  they 
are  not  made  to  go  to  the  temples,  nor  taught  how  to  worship. 
If  they  learn  to  read  their  own  language  they  will  probably 
sometimes  dip  into  the  Gita  or  into  Tulsi  Das's  Ramayana,  — 
the  favorite  religious  books  of  India;  and  even  if  they  cannot 
read  they  will  inevitably  hear  the  story  of  Rama  and  Sita  and 
learn  from  it  the  ideals  of  patience,  endurance,  loyal  friendship, 
and  devotion  which  India  loves.  Then  occasionally  —  very 
occasionally  —  strolling  preachers  come  to  the  village  or  stop 
on  the  city  street,  and  read  from  the  books  mentioned,  or  from 

'  A  prominent  and  learned  pundit  of  my  acquaintance  places  the  figure 
at  roughly  ninety-nine  per  cent. 

141 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

one  of  the  Puranas.  And  of  course  it  is  impossible  to  live 
among  Hindus  and  not  learn  something  of  Shiva,  Vishnu,  and 
the  other  gods.  Thus  what  one  might  call  a  working  knowledge 
of  the  Hindu  religion  is  appropriated  and  assimilated  by  even 
the  ignorant,  though  as  a  matter  of  course  it  is  seldom  the 
best  of  Hinduism  and  often  the  worst  that  is  learned  in  this 
haphazard  way.  One  learns  to  go  through  certain  ceremonies 
without  knowing  —  without  even  asking  —  the  reason  why. 
The  inner  significance,  if  such  there  be,  is  thus  quite  lost.  And 
instead  of  being  taught  the  finer  side  of  Indian  thought,  the 
average  Hindu,  especially  of  the  lower  classes,  usually  gets 
hold  chiefly  of  a  number  of  silly  stories  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  harmful  superstitions. 

That  small  section  of  Hindu  society  which  has  come  under 
the  influence  of  Western  thought,  though  freed  from  supersti- 
tions and  meaningless  ceremonies,  is  not  much  better  off  so  far 
as  religious  education  is  concerned  than  are  the  ignorant  lower 
classes.  Most  of  these  educated  Hindus  have  turned  away  from 
the  religion  of  their  fathers  without  getting  anything  religious 
in  its  place.  They  teach  their  children  English  and  chemistry 
instead  of  the  truths  of  the  ancient  Dharma;  and  as  for  prayers, 
their  children  say  none  of  them  whether  in  Sanskrit  or  in  any 
other  tongue.^ 

The  child's  first  religious  instructor  is  his  father,  and  in  most 
cases  instruction  ends  there.  Yet  many  careful  fathers  place 
their  children  under  the  guidance  of  a  guru,  or  professional  reli- 
gious teacher;  and  many  a  man  and  woman  retain  the  services  of 
a  guru  as  a  kind  of  father-confessor  to  the  end  of  life.  The  gurus 
of  the  past  must  have  been  a  very  reverend  and  noble  company 
if  one  may  judge  by  the  almost  universal  respect  which  the  title 
guru  still  carries  with  it.  The  Vedanta  Sara  describes  the  ideal 
guru  thus:  — 

*  "  Nine  out  of  every  ten  of  the  Hindus  to-day  who  are  coming  out  of  the 
schools  and  colleges  may  be  said  never,  from  morning  to  night,  from  week  to 
week,  and  from  year  to  year,  to  trouble  themselves  with  the  thought  of  God 
or  of  religion."  "The  Hindus  of  the  present  day  seem  to  be  fast  losing  the 
spiritual-mindedness  of  their  forefathers.  .  .  .  That  magnificent  unworld- 
liness  of  the  Hindu,  that  high  appreciation  of  the  value  of  life,  that  unique 
example  of  plain  living  and  high  thinking,  has  become  rare  to-day."  (Hem 
Chandra  Sarkar  in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology,  October,  1909.) 
142 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

"A  true  guru  is  a  man  who  is  in  the  habit  of  practicing  all  the 
virtues;  who  with  the  sword  of  wisdom  has  lopped  off  all  the 
branches  and  torn  out  all  the  roots  of  sin,  and  has  dispersed 
with  the  light  of  reason  the  thick  shadows  in  which  sin  is 
shrouded;  who  behaves  with  dignity  and  independence;  who 
has  the  feelings  of  a  father  for  all  his  disciples;  who  makes  no 
difference  in  his  conduct  between  his  friends  and  his  enemies, 
and  shows  equal  kindness  to  both;  who  looks  on  gold  and  pre- 
cious stones  with  the  same  indifference  as  on  pieces  of  iron  or 
potsherd,  and  values  the  one  as  highly  as  the  other;  whose  chief 
care  is  to  enlighten  the  ignorance  in  which  the  rest  of  mankind 
is  plunged."  ^ 

The  Abbe  Dubois,  from  whom  I  take  this  quotation,  com- 
ments upon  it  thus:  "This  is  what  the  Hindu  gurus  ought  to  be, 
but  are  not."  And  he  proceeds  to  devote  a  chapter  to  the  igno- 
rance, immorality,  and  mercenary  nature  of  all  the  gurus  in 
India.  As  usual,  the  truth  seems  to  lie  somewhere  between  the 
tw^o  extremes.  The  almost  passionate  reverence  which  is  still 
felt  in  many  parts  of  India  for  the  guru  is  hardly  explicable  if 
all  teachers  of  religion  are  as  depraved  as  the  good  abbe  would 
have  us  believe.  Many  of  them  at  least  are  not  lazy.  Gurus 
belonging  to  the  two  great  sects  and  those  teaching  some  form 
of  yoga  are  particularly  active,  some  even  carr>ang  their  teach- 
ing and  their  puja  to  the  homes  of  outcastes.  Enthusiastic  fol- 
lowers of  yogins  and  spiritual  reformers  not  infrequently  turn 
guru  and  carry  the  new  spiritual  teaching  over  a  wide  area.  Dr. 
Clough,  the  missionary  to  the  Telugus,  found  as  his  right-hand 
man  an  outcaste  who  had  been  taught  yoga  by  a  woman  guru, 
and  had  himself  become  a  guru  in  his  turn,  teaching  the  doc- 
trine he  had  learned  from  her.  He  afterwards  became  an  enthu- 
siastic Christian  preacher,  but  Dr.  Clough  says  "  there  was  little 
in  his  [former]  teaching  which  he  afterwards  had  to  contradict 
as  evil,"  In  fact,  not  only  this  man,  but  nearly  all  Dr.  Clough's 
most  reliable  native  preachers,  had  either  been  Hindu  gurus 
themselves  or  had  got  their  first  real  religious  training  from 
gurus  of  the  Raja  Yoga.  "  Sitting  at  the  feet  of  Raja  Yoga 
Gurus,"  says  the  good  doctor,  "even  though  many  of  them 
were  worthless,  had  been  a  rich  experience  to  them  which  they 
»  Quoted  by  the  Abb6  Dubois,  op.  cit.,  p.  123. 
143 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

would  not  willingly  have  missed  out  of  their  lives."  ^  And  the 
entire  district  seems  to  have  been  prepared  for  Christianity  in  a 
very  real  and  valuable  sense  by  the  previous  labors  of  these 
Hindu  teachers. 

Yet  gurus  of  this  finer  sort  are  decided  exceptions,  and  the 
influence  of  the  class  as  a  whole  is  rather  slight,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  so  many  of  them  visit  their  disciples  but  once  a  year.  On  the 
whole  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  "  the  true  guru,"  in  India, 
is  very  hard  to  find ;  and  that  most  of  the  professional  Brah- 
min teachers,  who  supply  the  young  with  mantras  and  give 
advice  on  religious  matters,  are  "not  in  business  for  their 
health,"  but  make  a  good  living  off  the  credulity  of  their  flock, 
and  in  moral  matters  are  no  better  than  they  should  be. 
Govinda  Das  writes :  "  Puranic  preachers  and  innumerable  sec- 
tarian sadhns,  bairagis,  etc.,  are  mostly  reactionaries  of  a  bad 
type,  catering  to  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  mob  for 
the  purpose  of  exploiting  them."  2  Another  Hindu  writes: 
"Both  the  guru  and  the  priest  vie  with  each  other  in  igno- 
rance and  conceit.  Both  are  covetous,  unprincipled,  and  up  to 
every  vice;  but  the  guru  is  much  more  revered  than  his  adver- 
sary, owing  to  the  former  being  a  less  frequent  visitor,  and 
the  speculative  and  mysterious  nature  of  his  avocations."  ^ 

In  some  sects  the  guru  need  not  be  a  Brahmin;  but  the  priest 
must.  All  priests  are  Brahmins,  though  by  no  means  all  Brah- 
mins are  priests.  Those  that  go  into  the  priesthood  in  fact  — 
strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us  —  are  the  least  respected  mem- 
bers of  their  caste.  The  name  "Brahmin"  is  still  a  word  to 
conjure  with  in  India,  but  when  coupled  with  the  word 
"  priest,"  it  loses  much  of  its  glory.  This  at  least  is  true  in  the 
more  intelligent  circles,  while  the  Indian  villager,  still  sunk 
deep  in  superstition,  sometimes  regards  the  priest  as  possessed 
of  magic  and  supernatural  powers  which  make  him  an  object  of 
admiration  and  awe.  The  more  able  members  of  the  caste 
(especially  in  the  cities)  go  into  professions  where  more  money 
and  greener  laurels  are  to  be  won  than  in  the  priesthood.    It  is 

•  Social  Christianity  in  the  Orient  (New  York,  Macmillan,  1914),  pp.  94 
and  197. 

'  Hinduism  and  India,  p.  xiv. 

»  Quoted  from  The  Hindu  Family  in  Bengal,  by  Wilkins,  op.  cit.,  p.  30. 

144 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

usually  the  less  progressive  individuals  who  are  content  to  go 
into  the  temple  business.  And  not  every  priest  has  a  temple, 
though  every  temple  has  a  priest  and  sometimes  many.  But 
there  is  plenty  of  work  to  be  done  outside  the  temples  —  paint- 
ing the  sacred  marks  of  sect  and  caste  upon  the  foreheads  of 
the  faithful,  giving  instruction  to  them,  performing  the  various 
domestic  ceremonies  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  the 
previous  chapter,  and  attending  ceremonies  where  other  Brah- 
min priests  preside,  but  where  all  Brahmins  are  fed.  Many  of 
the  temple  priests  hold  their  office  by  hereditary  right.  Espe- 
cially is  this  the  case  with  the  larger  temples,  where  a  number  of 
priests  are  employed.  These  temples  often  are  richly  endowed, 
owning  large  tracts  of  land  from  the  income  of  which  the  priests 
are  supported  and  the  expenses  of  the  temple  service  are  de- 
frayed. One  of  the  priests  of  the  Kalighat  temple  in  Calcutta 
told  me  that  at  his  place  of  business  there  were  about  a  dozen 
hereditary  priests,  and  that  they  took  turns  in  doing  the  public 
puja,  each  one  serving  two  or  three  days  a  month,  and  seeing 
to  the  distribution  of  food  to  the  beggars  —  for  every  day  at 
the  temple  beggars  are  fed  and  clothed.  The  rest  of  his  time, 
so  far  as  I  could  make  out,  was  given  in  part  to  teaching 
young  men  out  of  the  Tantras,  but  chiefly  to  loafing.  A  zealous 
Hindu  whom  I  met  in  the  Madura  temple  described  the  forty 
hereditary  priests  of  that  great  shrine  as  "ignorant,  glutton- 
ous, and  lazy."  The  (Hindu)  translators  of  the  Garuda  Purana 
in  their  Introduction  write  thus  of  the  way  in  which  the 
priests  use  their  influence  over  the  people:  — 

"The  after-life  consequences  of  minor  sins  can  be  warded  off 
by  appropriate  penances.  And  here  is  a  rich  field  which  the 
Brahmin  priestcraft  of  India,  preying  on  the  gullibility  of  its 
votaries,  has  exploited  to  its  extreme  extent.  For  every  sin 
there  is  a  penance  and  also  a  pilgrimage,  with  its  concomitant 
result  in  the  shape  of  so  much  fee  to  be  paid  to  the  Brahmins. 
Penances  have  become  a  farce  in  modern  India.  They  can  be 
compounded  by  the  payment  of  amounts  ranging  from  a  cowrie 
shell  to  thousands  of  rupees  to  Brahmins.  It  is  not  that  the 
gifts  to  a  deserving  man  wash  away  sin,  for  modern  Hinduism 
has  done  everything  in  its  power  to  throw  in  the  background 
that  rational  idea,  but  a  gift  to  a  Brahmin,  however  bad  he  may 
145 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

be,  —  as  the  saying  goes  that  no  one  feeds  a  docile  monkey,  but 
a  kicking  cow  for  the  sake  of  her  milk." 

In  short,  the  Brahmin  priest  has  a  very  bad  name  in  India. 
I  do  not  remember  hearing  a  good  word  spoken  for  any  of  the 
class  except  by  priests  themselves.  In  Benares  their  reputation 
is  exceedingly  evil.  Indian  gentlemen  in  that  city  told  me  that 
the  temples  were  sometimes  brothels,  and  that  the  priests  were 
not  only  dishonest  and  corrupt,  but  not  uncommonly  misused 
the  confidence  which  Hindu  women  placed  in  them  to  deceive 
and  betray  them.  In  southern  India  conditions  seem  to  be  even 
worse  than  in  the  north.  For  in  the  large  southern  temples 
women  as  well  as  men  are  employed  in  the  cult.  There  are  two 
classes  of  these  women :  —  nautch  girls  who  dance  before  the 
god,  and  the  wives  of  the  god,  —  girls  who  in  infancy  have  been 
given  by  their  parents  in  marriage  to  the  deity.  I  hardly  need 
add  that  both  these  classes  of  women  are  in  fact  religious  pros- 
titutes, and  that  when  a  girl  becomes  the  wife  of  a  god,  the 
deity  is  in  fact  represented  by  his  faithful  priests.^ 

Fortunately  for  India,  the  Brahmin  priest  is  not  really  repre- 
sentative of  her  religious  life.  Much  more  genuinely  typical  as 
well  as  much  more  deeply  religious  is  that  characteristically 
Indian  figure,  the  sannyasi,^  the  "renouncer,"  For  the  word  is 
used  here  to  include  not  only  those  who  having  completed  the 
householder  stage  have  entered  into  the  final  stage  of  the  ideal 
life,  but  also  all  those  who  from  whatever  cause  and  at  what- 
ever age  have  turned  their  back  upon  home  and  renounced  the 
world  in  order  to  devote  all  their  energies  to  the  attainment  of 
what  they  deemed  a  higher  goal. 

1  Even  worse  accusations  than  these  are  made  against  the  priests  in  parts 
of  southern  India.  See  Dubois,  op.  cit.,  part  in,  chap,  iv,  especially  pp. 
593-96. 

*  The  word  "sannyasi"  is  commonly  used  with  a  variety  of  meanings  of 
which  the  following  are  the  more  important:  (l)  "renouncer"  (its  literal 
meaning);  (2)  one  who  has  entered  upon  the  fourth  stage  of  the  ideal  life  of 
the  twice- born;  (3)  a  member  of  some  one  of  the  Hindu  monastic  orders; 
(4)  the  term  is  sometimes  limited  so  as  to  apply  only  to  members  of  certain 
orders,  e.g.,  the  more  strict  orders  founded  by  Shankara  and  by  Ramanuja, 
or  sometimes  only  the  former.  The  word  "sadhu"  is  used  almost  synony- 
mously with  sannyasi.  This  word  means  originally  "good"  or  "religious." 
It  is  also  sometimes  used  to  include  all  "renouncers"  and  is  sometimes  re- 
stricted to  mean  only  the  members  of  certain  orders,  such  as  the  Vaishnava 
orders  or  the  less  strict  orders  of  Shankara. 

146 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

World  renunciation  is  a  phenomenon  of  long  standing  in 
India  and  its  aim  has  been  twofold:  (i)  to  attain  by  a  solitary 
life  and  by  methods  of  penance  certain  magical  powers  over 
nature,  man,  and  the  gods;  (2)  to  conquer  the  flesh  and  purify 
the  soul.  The  history  of  the  movement  shows  a  parallel  gain 
and  loss.  For  the  second  of  the  aims  just  mentioned  has 
steadily  gained  in  popularity  upon  the  first,  the  thought  of 
magical  power  playing  ever  a  smaller  part  in  comparison  with 
the  aim  of  freeing  the  spirit  from  the  flesh  and  uniting  it  with 
the  divine;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  under  the  cloak  of  the  true 
sannyasi  have  taken  shelter  increasing  crowds  of  lazy  and  irre- 
ligious beggars  who  have  jumped  at  the  opportunity  of  living 
off  the  community  by  assuming  the  garments  of  the  pious. 
This  factor  of  laziness  formed  no  part  of  the  ideal  as  originally 
conceived  and  as  practiced  for  many  centuries  in  India.  The 
sannyasi  was  to  be  inactive,  yes ;  but  only  because  activity  was 
conceived  as  binding  the  soul  to  this  world.  And  his  outer  inac- 
tivity co^-ered  a  ver>-  active  inner  life,  a  life  so  far  removed  from 
one  of  selfish  laziness  that  it  was  marked  at  every  moment  by 
genuine  renunciation. 

The  sannyasi,  as  India  understands  the  ideal,  should  prize 
the  spiritual  life  so  highly  that  ever>-thing  else  seems  to  him  but 
dross.  His  every  moment  must  be  given  up  to  systematic  self- 
training  by  which  all  the  old  ties  may  be  broken  and  all  the 
world's  inverted  values  be  turned  upside  down  again.  He 
must  give  up  home  and  family  and  friends  and  possessions  and 
wander  out  to  live  alone,  or  in  a  company  of  other  renouncers 
like  himself.  He  must  beg  his  meals  and  so  be  dependent  upon 
the  charitv'  of  others  for  his  ver\-  Hfe.  He  must  own  nothing  but 
his  yellow  robe,  his  staff  and  bowl,  perhaps  a  few  ver\'  simple 
utensils,  a  rosary  for  his  prayers,  and  one  or  two  symbolic  reli- 
gious objects  corresponding  to  the  crucifix  of  Christian  monks. 
Sometimes  he  will  wear  in  place  of  the  yellow  robe  only  a  loin- 
cloth, or  sometimes  nothing  at  all  —  for  in  India  nakedness  is  a 
token  that  one  has  learned  so  to  despise  the  body  that  he  has 
almost  forgotten  its  existence.  To  it  and  to  all  the  pleasures  of 
life  he  must  study  indifference.  Indifference  is  one  of  his  great- 
est virtues,  for  it  is  the  negative  side  of  that  positive  searching 
after  God,  that  realization  of  the  divine  within  himself  which  is 

147 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

his  one  great  business.  The  ideal  set  up  for  him  is  thus  expressed 
in  the  ancient  Scriptures :  — 

"  Let  him  not  wish  for  death,  let  him  not  wish  for  life,  let  him 
wait  for  the  time,  as  a  servant  for  his  wages.  .  .  .  Let  him  en- 
dure harsh  language,  and  let  him  not  insult  any  one;  nor  relying 
on  his  body  let  him  make  an  enemy  of  any  one.  Let  him  not 
return  anger  to  the  angry,  let  him  bless  when  cursed.  .  .  . 
Rejoicing  in  the  Supreme  Self,  sitting  indifferent,  refraining 
from  sensual  delights,  with  himself  for  his  only  friend,  let  him 
wander  here  on  earth,  aiming  at  liberation."  ^ 

The  ideal  sannyasi,  however,  though  freed  from  particular 
ties,  is  in  one  sense  every  one's  friend,  for  he  sees  in  all  the  One 
Self,  without  barrier  between,  and  he  feels  their  sufferings  as 
his  own.  It  is  related  of  Pundit  Bijoy  Krishna  Goswami,  who 
died  only  a  few  years  ago,  that  "to  see  any  keen  human  suffer- 
ing was,  for  him,  to  have  it  directly  transferred  to  his  own  sensa- 
tions. One  wintry  morning  he  was  sitting  facing  the  public  road 
when  all  of  a  sudden  he  seemed  to  take  ill  with  a  severe  fit  of 
shivering.  His  people  did  not  know  what  it  meant  or  what  to 
do.  A  disciple,  however,  noticed  that  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  a 
decrepit  old  beggar  seated  on  the  footpath  on  the  other  side  of 
the  public  road,  who  was  shivering  in  all  his  bare  limbs  at  the 
touch  of  the  sharp  and  frosty  morning  breeze.  He  at  once  took 
the  heavy  blankets  that  covered  the  master's  body,  and  run- 
ning out  to  the  street,  put  them  around  the  old  beggar.  As  soon 
as  this  was  done,  the  master  came  back  to  himself  and  all  his 
shivering  ceased."  ^ 

Let  me  point  out,  in  passing,  that  this  very  typical  story 
illustrates  that  in  which  the  holy  man  of  India  falls  short  as 
well  as  that  in  which  he  excels.  The  Pundit  appears  to  have  felt 
the  beggar's  suffering  more  keenly  than  a  Christian  saint  would 
have  done;  and  yet  it  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  him  to 
throw  his  blankets  over  the  poor  fellow.  For  aught  the  story 
shows,  had  it  not  been  for  the  disciple's  desire  to  stop  his  mas- 
ter's shivering  fit,  both  master  and  beggar  would  have  con- 
tinued to  shiver  on  indefinitely.  The  truth  is  the  sannyasins  as 
a  class  have  never  been  characterized  by  any  great  eagerness  to 

1  Laws  of  Manu,  vi,  45,  47,  48,  49. 

*  Bipin  Chandra  Pal,  op.  cit.,  pp.  56-57. 

148 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

sen-e  their  fellows.  In  fact  a  life  of  active  helpfulness  is  no  part 
of  the  sannyasi  ideal,  for  inactivity  in  externals  is  one  of  the 
things  that  he  must  carefully  practice.  His  life  is  one  of  in- 
wardness almost  exclusively.  Its  aims  and  its  struggles  and  its 
victories  are  all  subjective.  This  is  its  weakness  and  this  should 
be  plainly  recognized  and  understood.  Once  seen,  however,  it 
should  not  blind  us  to  the  finer  side  of  the  sannyasi  ideal,  —  the 
victory  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh,  the  purifying  and  the  train- 
ing of  the  soul,  the  power  to  see  the  Divine  under  the  meanest 
of  disguises. 

Ramakrishna  once  said  to  his  disciples :  — 

"  I  have  now  come  to  a  stage  of  realization  in  which  I  see  that 
God  is  walking  in  every  human  form  and  manifesting  Himself 
alike  through  the  sage  and  the  sinner,  the  virtuous  and  the 
vicious.  Therefore  when  I  meet  different  people,  I  say  to  my- 
self: 'God  in  the  form  of  the  saint,  God  in  the  form  of  the  sinner, 
God  in  the  form  of  the  unrighteous,  and  God  in  the  form  of 
the  righteous.'  He  who  has  attained  to  such  realization  goes 
beyond  good  and  evil,  above  virtue  and  vice,  and  realizes  that 
the  di\-ine  will  is  working  everywhere. 

"There  was  a  Hindu  monastery  in  a  certain  village.  The 
monks  of  the  monastery  went  out  every  day  with  begging- 
bowls  to  gather  food.  One  day  a  monk,  passing  by,  saw  a 
Zemindar  severely  beating  a  poor  man.  The  holy  man,  being 
very  kindhearted,  entreated  the  Zemindar  to  stop  beating  the 
man.  The  Zemindar,  blind  with  rage,  immediately  turned  on 
the  monk  and  poured  upon  him  the  venom  of  his  anger.  He 
beat  him  until  he  was  knocked  unconscious  on  the  ground. 
Another  man,  seeing  his  condition,  went  to  the  monaster>^  and 
told  what  had  happened.  His  brother  monks  ran  to  the  spot 
where  the  holy  man  was  lying.  They  lifted  him  and  brought 
him  to  the  monastery  and  laid  him  in  a  room;  but  the  holy  man 
still  remained  unconscious.  His  brothers  fanned  him,  bathed 
his  face,  put  milk  into  his  mouth,  and  tried  to  nurse  him  back 
to  life.  Gradually  they  brought  him  back  to  consciousness. 
The  holy  man  opened  his  eyes  and  looked  at  his  fellow  brethren. 
One  of  them,  desiring  to  know  whether  he  could  recognize  his 
friends,  asked  him  in  a  loud  voice:  'Maharaj,  dost  thou  recog- 
nize him  who  is  feeding  thee  with  milk?'  The  holy  man  an- 
149 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

swered  in  a  feeble  voice:    'Brother,  he  who  beat  me  is  now 
feeding  me.'"  ^ 

During  the  Indian  Mutiny  the  British  troops  sacked  a  town 
in  which  dwelt  a  sannyasi  who  for  years  had  maintained  the 
vow  of  silence.  In  the  madness  of  battle  the  English  soldier 
who  came  upon  him  did  not  stop  to  distinguish  between  this 
innocent  and  revered  ascetic  and  the  rebellious  sepoys,  so 
pierced  his  heart  with  the  bayonet.  As  the  cold  steel  entered 
his  quivering  flesh  the  old  saint  broke  his  silence  of  half  a  life- 
time to  say  to  his  murderer,  "And  thou  also  art  divine."  ^ 

In  his  training  of  the  soul  the  sannyasi  often  makes  use  of 
asceticism.  Asceticism  is  a  subject  upon  which  the  Western 
world,  and  particularly  the  Protestant  Western  worid,  has 
made  up  its  mind  very  definitely,  and  concerning  which  it  is 
ready  to  say  the  last  word,  with  the  glib  certainty  that  usually 
accompanies  "snap  judgments."  If  you  want  to  know  the 
value  of  asceticism  the  modem  West  will  tell  you  that  it  is  all 
foolishness;  —  and  it  knows  because  it  has  never  tried  it.  The 
East  has  tried  it  and  it  does  not  think  it  all  foolishness;  and 
there  was  a  time  when  the  West  agreed  with  the  East.  No  one 
can  deny  that  there  is  a  kind  of  asceticism  which  is  worse  than 
folly,  a  self-torture  which  is  madness  and  sin;  but  there  are 
degrees  of  deliberate  and  arbitrary  self-denial  which  some  of  the 
wisest  men  of  all  ages  have  found  of  no  little  help  in  the  struggle 
of  the  spirit  to  free  itself  from  the  lesser  goods  of  this  distracting 
world.  This  was  a  secret  known  to  the  Protestant  Puritan  no 
less  than  to  the  Catholic  monk.  As  a  French  writer  has  put  it, 
"  Who  says  ascetic  says  athlete."  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the 
ideal  sannyasi  makes  use  of  ascetic  practices.  He  would  be  an 
athlete  of  the  spirit,  and  with  this  great  end  in  view  he  cuts  all 
the  ties  that  bind  his  progress  and  deliberately  denies  himself 
and  crucifies  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts. 

The  more  earnest  sannyasins  use  other  means  still  for  attain- 
ing the  desired  end.  Some  make  use  of  psycho-physical  meth- 
ods, known  as  "yoga,"  devised  these  many  centuries  back  for 
the  purpose  of  attaining  the  desired  mental  state  in  which  the 
One  Self  is  realized.  This  "  superconscious  state,"  as  they  call 

1  The  Gospel  of  Ramakrishna,  pp.  88-89. 

2  A  story  quoted  in  several  places  by  Sister  Nivedita  from  Vivekananda. 

150 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

it,  is  known  as  "samadhi,"  and  those  who  have  attained  to  it 
assure  us  on  their  return  that  in  it  they  have  perceived  that 
subject  and  object  are  one  and  that  all  multiplicity  is  illusion. 
With  many  yogins  this  trance  state  is  a  kind  of  self-hypnosis  — 
a  species  of  indulgence;  with  others  it  comes  spontaneously. 
With  the  more  spiritual  it  is  a  truly  religious  experience;  being 
in  fact  the  same  thing  as  the  trances  of  the  mediaeval  Christian 
mystics.  Ramakrishna,  who  often  experienced  it,  speaks  of  it 
and  its  attainment  thus:  — 

"Divine  Love  is  the  rarest  thing  in  the  world.  He  who  can 
love  God  as  a  devoted  wife  loves  her  husband  attains  to  Divine 
Love.  Pure  Love  is  difficult  to  acquire.  In  pure  love  the  whole 
heart  and  soul  must  be  absorbed  in  God.  Then  will  come  ec- 
stasy. In  ecstasy  a  man  remains  dumb  with  wonder,  outward 
breathing  stops  entirely,  but  inward  breathing  continues;  as 
when  aiming  a  gun,  a  man  remains  speechless  and  without 
breathing.  In  Divine  Love  one  entirely  forgets  the  external 
world  with  all  its  charms  and  attractions;  even  one's  own  body 
which  is  so  dear  to  one  is  easily  forgotten.  In  ecstasy,  when  the 
breathing  stops,  the  whole  mind  remains  absolutely  fixed  upon 
the  Supreme.  All  nerve  currents  run  upward  with  tremendous 
force,  and  the  result  is  samadhi  or  God-consciousness."  ^ 

It  is,  of  course,  only  the  greater  saints  —  the  "Paramaham- 
sas"  or  "Mahatmans"  as  the  Hindus  call  them  — who  attain  to 
this  supreme  experience.  But  though  sainthood  is  not  common, 
even  in  India,  there  are  a  few  in  almost  every  generation  upon 
whom  this  glorious  title  is  by  common  consent  conferred.  Max 
Miiller  -  (relying  chiefly  on  Keshub  Chunder  Sen)  mentions  six 
contemporaries  of  his  who  were  commonly  regarded  in  India  as 
"Mahatmans"  or  "Paramahamsas."  One  of  these  was,  of 
course,  Ramakrishna,  whom  I  have  so  often  mentioned,  and 
whose  disciples  describe  the  Indian  ideal  of  sainthood  in  the 
following  words :  — 

"A  real  Mahatman  as  described  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita  (chap- 
ter vii,  verse  19)  is  one  who,  having  realized  the  Absolute, 
perceives  the  Divine  Being  in  all  animate  and  inanimate  ob- 
jects of  the  universe.  His  heart  and  soul  never  turn  away  from 

1  Op.  cM.,  pp.  74-75. 

'  Ramakrishna;  His  Life  and  Sayings,  pp.  12,  23. 

151 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

God.  He  lives  in  God-consciousness,  and  Divine  qualities  con- 
stantly flow  through  his  soul.  He  cares  neither  for  fame  nor 
power  nor  worldly  prosperity.  A  true  Mahatman  has  no  at- 
tachment to  His  body  or  to  sense  pleasures;  He  is  a  living  God; 
He  is  absolutely  free  and  His  inner  nature  is  illumined  by  the 
self-effulgent  light  of  Divine  Wisdom  and  His  heart  is  over- 
flowing with  Divine  Love.  His  soul  becomes  the  playground 
of  the  Almighty,  His  body  and  mind  become  the  instrument 
of  the  Divine  Will.  And  Bhagavan  Sri  Ramakrishna  was  such 
a  real  Mahatman."  ^ 

Another  of  these  recent  Mahatmans  was  Devendranath 
Tagore,  of  whom  Mr.  Shastri  writes  as  follows:  "His  nature 
was  essentially  spiritual.  Communion  with  the  Supreme  was 
the  key  to  his  whole  being ;  he  lived  in  that  atmosphere ;  he  saw 
life  from  that  standpoint;  he  drew  all  his  inspiration  of  duty 
from  it,  and  cherished  it  above  all  earthly  possessions.  ...  In 
spite  of  his  real  sainthood  he  never  put  on  the  garb  or  habit  of  a 
sadhu  or  saint.  His  piety  was  natural,  habitual,  modest.  He 
hated  and  shunned  all  display  of  saintliness.  His  piety  was  best 
manifested  in  an  habitual  sense  of  Divine  presence,  in  strict 
moral  integrity,  and  in  the  punctual  performance  of  even  the 
minutest  duties  of  domestic  and  social  life.  Though  shunning 
mendicancy,  he  was  not  less  devoted  to  his  religious  exercises 
than  any  mendicant.  Habitual  communion  with  God  was  his 
daily  practice.  Every  morning  his  first  duty  was  to  chant  pas- 
sages from  the  Vedas  and  Upanishads  and  to  give  some  time  in 
thanksgiving  and  prayer.  He  would  spend  days  and  months  on 
hilltops  and  other  solitary  places  in  earnest  meditation,  either 
communing  with  the  Supreme  Spirit  or  feeding  his  spiritual 
nature  with  the  study  of  the  teachings  of  great  spiritual 
masters." 

Though  Devendranath  Tagore  had  his  trials  and  at  times 
was  subject  to  sharp  criticism  from  former  friends  for  doing 
what  seemed  to  him  his  duty,  —  and  a  painful  duty  it  some- 
times was,  —  the  sweetness  and  light  which  seem  to  have  been 
his  abiding  characteristic  did  not  desert  him.  "He  never  de- 
scended to  the  level  of  his  critics  or  maligners;  but  calmly  bore 
all  and  viewed  all  questions  from  a  spiritual  standpoint.  .  .  . 
'  The  Gospel  of  Ramakrishna,  pp.  5-6. 
152 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

What  people  said  about  him  was  of  secondary  importance  to 
him;  what  he  really  was  he  thought  to  be  his  prime  concern. 
Therein  lay  his  strength  and  his  repose.  That  calm  and  undis- 
turbed sincerity  of  mind  he  maintained  in  the  midst  of  all  vicis- 
situdes of  life.  He  was  a  true  and  living  embodiment  of  that 
teaching  of  the  Gita  where  it  is  said :  'A  truly  wise  man  is  never 
buffeted  by  his  trials  and  tribulations,  does  not  covet  pleasures, 
and  is  free  from  attachment,  fear,  and  anger.'"  ^ 

Some  of  these  "great  souls"  of  India  find  the  joy  of  the  Lord 
so  intense  that  they  quite  forget  the  needs  of  their  fellows. 
They  say  but  little  about  their  own  supreme  experiences,  for 
they  have  reached  the  great  silence.  In  others,  as  the  above 
quotations  suggest,  divine  love  so  fills  the  heart  that  it  over- 
flows on  those  around.  Says  Ramakrishna:  — 

"The  bee  buzzes  so  long  as  it  is  outside  the  lotus  and  does  not 
settle  down  in  its  heart  to  drink  of  its  honey.  As  soon  as  it 
tastes  of  the  honey  all  buzzing  is  at  an  end.  Similarly  all  noise 
of  discussion  ceases  when  the  soul  of  the  neophyte  begins  to 
drink  the  nectar  of  Divine  Love  in  the  Lotus  Feet  of  the  Al- 
mighty. Sometimes,  however,  the  bee  after  being  intoxicated 
by  the  honey  makes  a  sweet  humming  sound.  So  the  God- 
intoxicated  soul  sometimes  speaks  for  the  good  of  others."  ^ 

Samadhi  is  a  goal  seldom  reached  or  even  striven  for  to-day ; 
in  fact  it  has  never  been  common  and  goeth  not  forth  save  by 
fasting  and  prayer.  But  the  chief  exercise  of  the  earnest  san- 
nyasi  is  meditation.  Doubtless  for  the  great  majority  of  India's 
"holy  men"  to-day  meditation  means  merely  a  kind  of  lazy 
day-dreaming;  yet  there  are  still  some,  perhaps  many,  to  whom 
meditation  means  a  state  of  the  most  intense  absorption,  the 
depth  of  which  we  Westerners  can  hardly  conceive.  It  is 
related  of  Swami  Vivekananda  that  he  sometimes  became  so 
lost  in  thought  that  his  body  would  be  black  with  mosquitoes 
without  any  consciousness  on  his  part  of  the  fact;  and  in  this  he 
is  only  representative  of  the  sannyasi  tradition  which  has  had 
innumerable  examples  through  the  ages.  And  of  course  it  goes 
without  saying  that  the  strictest  morality  is  an  absolute  condi- 

^  Shivanath  Shastri,  History  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  pp.  191,  194,  195,  198, 
199. 
*  Op.  cit.,  p.  III. 

153 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

tion  for  him  who  would  attain  to  the  highest  goal.^  In  short, 
the  sannyasi  must  live  not  only  the  simple  but  also  the  strenu- 
ous life.  The  yellow  robe  if  worn  worthily  is  no  garb  for  the 
lazy  man. 

"He  who  has  not  first  renounced  evil  ways,  nor  is  subdued, 
nor  tranquil,  and  whose  mind  is  not  at  rest,  even  by  knowledge 
he  can  never  obtain  the  Self."  ^  "Nor  is  the  Atman  [the  Self] 
obtained  by  the  strengthless,  nor  without  earnestness  and  right 
meditation.  But  if  a  wise  man  strives  after  it  by  these  means, 
then  his  self  enters  the  home  of  Brahman."  ^ 

There  are  not  many  sannyasins  to-day  who  have  attained  to 
the  ancient  ideal ;  but  there  are  many  more  than  the  superficial 
tourist  would  suppose  who  strive  after  the  goal  and  to  some 
extent  approximate  it.  From  Swami  Dayanand's  "Autobiog- 
raphy" one  gets  a  picture  of  what  one  might  call  the  under- 
ground religious  life  of  India  fifty  years  ago,  a  religious  life 
which,  though  it  has  lost  in  extent  and  intensity  since  his  time, 
is  still  a  large  factor  in  the  India  of  to-day.  In  that  book  we  see 
sannyasins  of  the  old  type  hurrying  from  one  end  of  India  to 
the  other  in  order  to  visit  some  sacred  spot  or  hear  the  words  of 
some  famous  teacher;  sannyasins  on  the  mountains,  sannyasins 
in  the  jungle,  sannyasins  wandering  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
reading  the  Vedas  and  Puranas,  practicing  austerities,  arguing 
with  each  other  over  the  teachings  of  the  sages  and  the  meaning 
of  the  scriptures,  or  seeking  in  solitude  to  realize  the  truth  of 
their  own  inherent  divinity. 

Nearly  all  sannyasins  to-day  belong  to  some  of  the  monastic 
orders.  Of  these  there  are  many,  the  most  important  of  which 
were  founded  by  Shankara,  or  by  Ramanuja  or  one  of  his  fol- 

'  One  should,  however,  note  that  the  idea  of  antinomianism  has  met  with 
considerable  acceptance  in  India  and  is  taught  in  some  of  the  sacred  books. 
The  man  who  knows  Brahman  need  not  trouble  himself  with  moral  ques- 
tions, being  beyond  them.  "The  great  unborn  Self,"  says  the  Brihadara- 
nyaka  Upanishad,  "does  not  become  greater  by  good  works  nor  smaller  by 
evil  works."  (iv,  4,  22.)  "According  to  human  knowledge,"  says  the  Ma- 
hanirvana  Tantra,  "the  world  appears  to  be  both  pure  and  impure,  but 
when  Brahman-knowledge  has  been  acquired  there  is  no  distinction  between 
pure  and  impure.  For  him  who  knows  that  Brahman  is  in  all  things  and 
eternal,  what  is  there  that  can  be  impure?"  (iv,  22-23.) 

*  Katha  Upanishad,  i,  11,  24. 

*  Mundakya  Upanishad,  ni,  n,  4. 

154 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

lowers.  Most  of  these  orders,  even  those  founded  by  Shankara, 
are  sectarian,  —  the  Shankara  ones  usually  recognizing  Shiva 
as  the  chief  manifestation  of  the  impersonal  Absolute,  while 
those  deriving  from  Ramanuja  pay  their  devotion  to  Vishnu  in 
one  of  his  incarnations.  These  sannyasi  orders  as  a  rule  require 
their  members  to  take  five  vows  which  have  been  handed  down 
through  centuries  of  tradition  as  characteristic  of  the  yellow 
robe.  The  first  of  these  is  the  vow  of  ahimsa  or  harmlessness. 
It  corresponds  to  the  Sixth  Commandment  of  the  Mosaic  code, 
but  is  of  much  wider  extent,  including  within  its  shelter  every 
form  of  sentient  life.  The  Hindu  monk  must  not  kill;  for  all 
living  beings  are  bound  together  in  the  chain  of  transmigra- 
tion and  by  the  common  aim  of  liberation ;  and  the  feeling  of 
universal  sympathy  which  the  sannyasi  seeks  to  cultivate 
makes  him  regard  the  taking  of  animal  life  as  almost  equiva- 
lent to  the  murder  of  a  little  brother.  For  this  reason  also  the 
sannyasi  must  not  make  use  of  animal  food;  to  do  so  would 
seem  to  him  a  form  of  cannibalism.  The  second  vow  of  the 
sannyasi  is  against  lying,  the  third  against  stealing,  the  fourth 
against  unchastity  (the  sannyasi  must  lead  the  celibate  life), 
while  the  fifth  vow  pledges  him  to  liberality.^ 

I  made  a  point,  while  in  Benares,  of  visiting  several  monas- 
teries of  these  Hindu  orders.  In  plan  they  resemble  to  some 
extent  the  monasteries  of  Christian  Europe,  though  as  a  rule 
they  are  much  simpler  and  rather  less  beautiful.  One  of  the 
finer  examples  that  I  visited  was  said  to  be  over  four  hundred 
years  old,  and  was  hidden  away  behind  two  small  Shiva  tem- 
ples, and  approached  by  a  narrow  lane  and  a  flight  of  steps. 
After  taking  various  turns  one  at  last  goes  through  a  gateway 
and  finds  one's  self  in  a  square  court,  resembling  an  Italian  clois- 
ter. In  the  center  of  the  court  stands  a  large  cassia  tree,  several 
banana  trees,  and  a  small  platform  with  the  base  of  a  lingam,  a 
Nandi  bull,  and  a  few  fresh  flowers.  A  number  of  small  rooms 
open  out  of  the  cloister,  but  most  of  the  cells  of  the  sannyasins 
are  on  the  second  and  third  floors,  and  open  upon  galleries 
looking  do\va  into  the  court.  I  went  into  a  number  of  these 
rooms  and  found  them  simple  to  the  verge  of  barrenness :  —  the 

1  The  first  four  of  these  vows  (as  we  shall  see  later)  are  shared  by  the 
Jaina  and  the  Buddhist.   In  the  fifth  vow  the  three  religions  differ. 

155 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

bed  a  panther's  skin  or  straw  mat  lying  on  the  cement  floor,  a 
bulge  in  the  cement  serving  for  pillow,  a  few  Sanskrit  books 
(two  or  three),  and  nothing  more. 

The  sannyasins  in  this  monastery  are  Sanskrit  scholars,  and 
the  abbot  of  another  monastery  which  I  visited  the  same  morn- 
ing is  a  very  learned,  as  well  as  pious,  man;  and  both  he  and  his 
juniors  make  use  of  their  learning  in  teaching  Sanskrit  to  a 
class  of  boys  and  expounding  the  Vedanta  philosophy  to  older 
students.  These  monks  belonged  to  one  of  the  Shankara  orders, 
but  I  found  much  the  same  condition  in  a  monastery  of  Rama- 
nand's  order,  where  the  monks  not  only  read  from  the  Gita, 
the  Brahma  Sutras,  and  the  Commentaries  of  Ramanuja,  but 
teach  a  class  of  little  boys.  The  older  of  these  sannyasins  had  a 
rather  fine  face  and  a  decidedly  pleasing  personality.  He  told 
me  he  had  belonged  to  the  order  about  ten  years,  and  had 
joined  it  because  he  wanted  to  die  in  Benares.  He  had  left  his 
wife  in  care  of  a  grown-up  son,  and  had  given  him  plenty  of 
land,  so  felt  no  scruple  in  renouncing  the  life  of  the  householder. 
He  felt  sure  this  was  his  last  incarnation,  and  at  death  he  ex- 
pected to  go  direct  to  the  heaven  of  Rama  for  all  eternity.  For 
Rama,  he  said,  was  the  One  God,  and  was  the  same  as  the  God 
of  the  Moslems  and  the  God  of  the  Christians  —  Vishnu, 
Shiva,  etc.,  being  merely  other  names  for  the  One  Deity. 

A  less  scholarly,  but  in  some  respects  a  more  interesting, 
group  of  monks  I  came  upon  in  a  Shankara  monastery,  which  I 
was  fortunate  enough  to  visit  in  company  with  the  Reverend 
J.  J.  Johnson  —  one  of  the  most  learned  men  in  India,  whose 
knowledge  of  Sanskrit  and  of  Indian  thought  has  won  for  him 
from  all  the  Hindus  of  the  United  Provinces  the  title  "Pundit 
Johnson."  There  was  no  one  in  the  court  of  the  monastery  as 
we  entered,  and  no  one  in  the  small  Shiva  temple  that  occupied 
the  center  of  it  —  no  one,  that  is,  save  the  faithful  stone  Nandi, 
kneeling  in  eternal  contemplation  and  reverence  before  the 
lingam  of  the  "Great  God."  Soon,  however,  one  of  the  sannya- 
sins climbed  the  flight  of  steps  and  made  his  appearance  in  the 
court.  He  was  dressed  in  the  usual  costume  of  Shankara's 
monastic  orders  —  a  yellow  cloth  or  skirt  tied  around  the 
waist  and  extending  to  the  knees,  another  yellow  cloth  —  a 
kind  of  toga  —  thrown  over  the  shoulder  and  extending  to  the 
156 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY   MEN 

feet,  and  a  yellow  muffler  wrapped  around  the  throat.  He  was 
just  returning  from  his  morning  bath  in  the  Ganges,  and  he 
carried  in  one  hand  a  bamboo  staff  with  a  yellow  bag  ^  tied  on 
its  upper  end,  and  in  the  other  hand  an  earthen  water  jar.  The 
jar  might  have  been  of  wood,  but  not  of  brass,  as  members  of 
this  order  must  not  touch  metal.  Money  also  they  must  not 
touch  in  any  form,  nor  women,  nor  fire.  The  simple  clothes  I 
have  described,  the  staff,  and  two  or  three  earthen  or  wooden 
jars  and  a  rosary  of  nuts  or  dried  berries  are  the  only  posses- 
sions of  these  sannyasins.  They  are  permitted  to  own  books, 
but  the  members  of  this  particular  monastery  have  no  scholarly 
inclinations,  and  prefer  "meditation"  to  study.  They  will 
accept  no  members  from  the  Shudra  caste,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  are  nearly  all  Brahmins. 

At  Mr.  Johnson's  request,  our  new  acquaintance  described 
for  us  his  daily  life.  He  rises  between  four  and  five,  brushes  his 
teeth,  does  puja  at  the  shrine,  goes  to  the  Ganges  for  his  bath, 
and  stays  on  the  ghats  or  near  the  Golden  Temple  till  eleven  or 
after.  Then  he  returns  to  the  monastery  and  in  his  cell  medi- 
tates upon  the  mantra  given  him  by  his  guru  at  initiation. 
About  twelve-thirty,  he  goes  out  to  a  Brahmin  house  where  he 
is  known  and  there  eats  his  first  and  only  meal  of  the  day,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  dhal  (a  kind  of  pulse),  rice,  and  vegetables. 
His  dinner  finished,  he  returns  to  the  monastery  and  spends  the 
afternoon  saying  prayers  with  his  rosary  and  meditating  on  his 
mantra  and  other  religious  subjects.  If  he  has  any  real  errand 
during  the  afternoon  he  goes  upon  it;  otherwise  he  remains  in 
the  monastery  the  rest  of  the  day.   He  goes  to  bed  at  nine. 

After  finishing  this  account  of  the  day's  work,  our  friend 
pointed  to  his  staff  and  said,  "That  is  Mahadev,"  and  to  his 
bowl  and  said,  "That  is  Brahma."  This  seemed  a  bit  surprising, 
and  Mr.  Johnson  remonstrated:  "How  can  that  be  Brahma? 
It  has  not  four  heads,  nor  four  arms.  It  is  not  God,  it  is  just  a 
bowl."  To  this  the  sannyasi  answered:  "Brahma  dwells  in  it 
temporarily.  But  name  and  form  pass,"  —  and  so  saying  he 

1  In  this  bag  is  carried  the  triple  cord  of  the  twice-born  which  is  discarded 
when  one  becomes  a  sannyasi.  The  monk  described  above  is  an  Ekadandi, 
i.e.,  he  belongs  to  one  of  Shankara's  orders  and  carries  a  single  rod.  Rama- 
nuja's  monks  carry  triple  rods. 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

seized  the  bowl  (he  had  only  one  other)  and  dashed  it  upon  the 
stone  platform  of  the  temple.  "See!"  he  said;  "its  form  is 
gone,  and  with  that  its  name:  —  it  is  no  more  a  bowl,  but  a 
thousand  worthless  pieces.  So  the  form  of  the  Great  Moguls  is 
gone  and  their  name  is  going.  Name  and  form  pass,  but  the 
Eternal  abides."  And  so  saying  our  friend  climbed  the  stairs  to 
his  cell  to  meditate  on  his  mantra. 

Another  sannyasi  now  returned  from  the  ghats  —  a  pleasant 
old  man  with  a  good  face  all  wrinkled  from  smiling.  He  said  he 
was  sixty  years  old  and  a  great-grandfather.  Mr.  Johnson  and 
he  soon  got  into  a  discussion  on  the  Vedanta  philosophy,  and  in 
the  midst  of  it  a  voice  was  heard  from  the  upper  gallery  taking 
part  in  the  conversation.  It  was  our  first  friend  who  was  in  his 
room  meditating  on  his  mantra.  Presently  he  rushed  down- 
stairs,—  this  time  dressed  only  in  his  loin-cloth,  —  eager  to  de- 
fend the  doctrine  of  Maya  against  Mr.  Johnson's  attacks,  and 
his  excited  defense  of  the  illusory  nature  of  everything  finite 
continued  till  two  more  monks  entered  the  court,  whereupon  he 
withdrew  again  to  his  cell  and  his  mantra. 

The  two  newcomers  were  unusually  simple  men  and  were 
induced  to  tell  us  (contrary  to  the  custom  of  most  sannyasins) 
why  they  had  taken  up  the  religious  life.  One  of  them  said  he 
had  become  a  sannyasi  because  his  wife  was  dead  and  he  had 
no  children  and  was  lonesome.  The  other  had  turned  monk  be- 
cause his  wife  was  a  scold.  His  brother  had  died  and  he  had 
taken  his  brother's  child  home  to  live,  whereupon  his  wife  got 
particularly  angry  and  refused  to  cook.  At  last  things  came  to 
such  a  pass  that  he  said  to  her:  "Very  well;  then  I  will  go  to 
Benares  and  enter  the  religious  life!"  To  which  the  lady  re- 
sponded that  if  he  felt  that  way  about  it  he  had  better  go;  so 
he  went.  It  seems  probable  that  if  other  sannyasins  would  talk 
as  freely  we  should  find  that  most  of  them  enter  the  religious 
life  for  equally  sensible  reasons.  The  truth  is,  many  of  these 
Hindu  monasteries  are  Homes  for  the  Aged.  They  fill  exactly 
the  same  place  in  the  Hindu  economy  which  with  us  is  held  by 
our  Homes  for  Old  Men. 

While  our  conversation  with  these  two  monks  was  in  progress 
our  first  friend  appeared  again,  this  time  fully  dressed  in  his 
yellow  robes,  all  of  them  carefully  adjusted,  his  entire  forehead 
158 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

and  the  upper  part  of  his  cheeks  religiously  streaked  with  the 
gray  marks  of  Shiva,  made  from  the  ashes  of  the  sacred  cow- 
dung,  and  armed  to  the  teeth  with  staff  and  bowl  —  in  short, 
ver>'  obviously  dressed  in  his  best  and  with  an  air  that  showed 
he  regarded  his  appearance  as,  on  the  whole,  rather  natt>\  He 
was  on  his  way  out  to  pay  his  one  daily  call  and  beg  his  one 
daily  meal;  —  in  short,  he  was  going  out  to  dinner! 

The  majoritv^  of  the  sannyasins  within  the  various  recognized 
and  better  orders  are  at  least  harmless  old  men,  who,  though 
not  ver>^  useful  to  society,  live  simple  and  retired  lives;  while 
some  of  them  are  useful  as  teachers  and  as  real  scholars  and 
thinkers.  But  outside  of  these  orders  are  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  self-st\-led  "holy  men"  who  have  taken  up  holiness  as  a  busi- 
ness, and  live  on  the  reputation  established  in  previous  centu- 
ries by  genuine  "  renouncers."  The  external  appearance  and  the 
public  bearing  of  their  prototype  is  carefully  mimicked  by  these 
self-st>-led  "sadhus"  —  these  "good  men";  his  simple  fare  is 
ostentatiously  simplified,  and  his  costume  and  accoutrements 
imitated  and  exaggerated.  The  old  sannyasi  let  his  hair  grow 
long  and  become  matted  because  he  had  no  time  to  think  of  his 
appearance.  His  spurious  imitator  has  no  time  to  think  of  any- 
thing else,  and  wears  on  his  head  mingled  with  his  hair  huge 
masses  of  matted  rope.  According  to  Govinda  Das,  "The 
number  of  sadhus  returned  by  the  census  of  1901  is  fifty-tr^'o 
lakhs  (5,200,000).  Every  fellow  who  is  too  worthless  to  be  a 
good  citizen  shirks  his  civil  duties  and  forthwith  dons  the 
ochre-colored  robe,  thus  becoming  mukta  ('free')  —  free  to  live 
in  luxury-  and  vice  at  the  expense  of  his  better  but  more  credu- 
lous fellow  citizens."  ^ 

These  religious  beggars  and  pseudo-ascetics  are  for  the  tour- 
ist the  most  patent  and  blatant  fact  in  Hinduism.  The  show 
places  of  India  are  full  of  them.  I  remember  one  in  Benares 
who  spends  his  time  running  about  the  ghats  in  search  of  tour- 
ists, carr>-ing  a  long  trumpet  which  he  sounds  before  him  (as 
was  the  custom  with  his  spiritual  relatives  in  Jerusalem  nine- 
teen hundred  years  ago)  to  attract  attention,  and  dogging  the 
steps  of  ever\'  European  he  can  find  till  the  usual  baksheesh  is 
forthcoming.  A  few  years  ago  a  genuine  ascetic  died  —  a  really 
1  Op.  cit.,  p.  178. 
159 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

good  man  I  am  told  —  who  for  years  had  spent  many  hours  of 
each  day  on  the  Benares  ghats  stretched  upon  a  bed  of  spikes. 
In  imitation  of  his  example,  but  with  a  very  different  spirit,  a 
professional  holy  man,  who  is  not  in  business  for  his  health, 
has  had  a  bed  of  spikes  made  and  sits  upon  it  often  enough 
to  make  a  living.  I  went  to  see  him  twice  —  his  headquarters 
is  above  the  Pachganga  Ghat  near  the  mosque  of  Aurungzeb 
—  and  both  times  I  had  to  send  for  him  to  come  and  sit  down 
on  his  spikes;  for  which  he  knew  perfectly  well  he  would  re- 
ceive a  consideration. 

This  extreme  commercializing  of  holiness  is,  of  course,  in 
part  a  modern  phenomenon;  but  it  had  its  beginnings  centuries 
back;  and  thoughtful  Hindus  have  long  realized  that  many  of 
their  "holy  men"  laid  an  extreme  emphasis  on  external  observ- 
ances and  showy  asceticism,  thus  keeping  the  outside  of  the 
platter  clean  and  doing  nothing  toward  that  training  and  devel- 
opment of  their  souls  which  alone  was  worthy  of  the  reverence 
they  sought  to  win.  The  Garuda  Purana  itself  —  which  in 
other  sections  values  certain  external  observances  so  highly  — 
has  nothing  but  contempt  for  those  ascetics  (of  whom  already 
in  its  day  there  seem  to  have  been  great  numbers)  who  seek 
to  impress  the  public  by  their  appearance,  and  regard  spirit- 
ual salvation  as  something  to  be  won  by  purely  external 
methods.  The  passage  (which  is  too  good  to  leave  unquoted) 
reads  like  a  page  from  a  modern  missionary  indictment  of 
Hinduism:  — 

"The  fools  desire  to  obtain  the  Invisible  by  single  meals, 
fasts,  and  other  restraints,  and  by  the  emaciation  of  the  body. 
The  hypocrites  putting  on  appearances,  and  wearing  quantities 
of  matted  hair  and  using  antelope  skins,  wander  about  and 
deceive  the  people.  Donkeys  walk  among  people  quite  naked 
and  unashamed.  Are  these  free  from  attachment?  If  men  are 
to  be  liberated  by  earth,  ashes,  and  dust,  does  the  dog  which 
always  lives  among  earth  and  ashes  become  liberated?  The 
jackals,  rats,  deer,  and  other  beasts  which  feed  upon  grass, 
leaves,  and  water,  and  always  live  in  forests  —  do  these  become 
ascetics?  The  crocodiles  and  fish  which  from  birth  to  death 
dwell  in  the  waters  of  the  Ganges  —  do  these  become  Yogins?  "  ^ 
^  XVI,  6i,  62,  65-68. 
160 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

As  this  passage  shows,  we  outsiders  are  not  the  only  ones 
who  realize  how  deeply  the  Indian  ideal  has  been  degraded. 
None  of  us,  in  fact,  realize  it  so  fully  —  and  so  sadly  —  as  do 
the  more  thoughtful  Hindus  themselves.  One  of  them  said  to 
me:  "The  noble  ancient  ideal  of  the  sannyasi,  whose  very 
presence  should  disseminate  goodness  and  blessing  wherever  he 
went,  is  now  nearly  lost,  and  instead  of  this  fine  and  reverent 
figure  we  have  the  professional  beggar.  As  the  human  corpse  is 
the  vilest  of  corpses  just  because  man  is  the  highest  of  earth's 
beings,  so  the  degradation  of  this  old  and  noble  t>'pe  is  proba- 
bly the  lowest  thing  in  Indian  society.  In  it,  as  in  so  many 
other  things,  we  Hindus  have  turned  to  a  worshiping  of  the 
dead  corpses  of  rites  and  ceremonies  and  mere  externals." 

For  it  is  not  merely  the  ascetic  ideal  but  the  whole  of  Hinduism 
that  is  in  a  decline.  "That  Hinduism  has  become  diseased  to 
its  very  core  is  a  fact  admitted  by  all  Hindus,  irrespective  of 
their  special  creed  or  caste."  ^  Many  of  those  who  cling  to  the 
forms  of  their  religion  have  forgotten  that  the  forms  have  a 
meaning,  and  many  of  those  who  are  dissatisfied  with  meaning- 
less forms  have  given  them  up  and  got  nothing  new  to  fill  their 
place.  A  Hindu  friend  tells  me  that  in  probably  eighty  per  cent 
of  the  homes  in  the  United  Provinces  into  v/hich  Western  influ- 
ence has  entered  the  old  religious  services  are  no  longer  ob- 
served. Another  Hindu  whom  I  met  —  a  man  known  all  over 
India  for  his  learning  —  said  to  me:  "There  has  been  a  decided 
falling-ofif  in  religious  belief  and  practice  throughout  India  in 
these  last  few  years.  In  Benares,  to  be  sure,  there  is  still  a  good 
deal  of  zeal  in  the  temple  worship,  but  this  is  not  the  case  in 
most  other  places.  In  Bengal  the  temples  are  pretty  well  de- 
serted. Especially  is  this  loss  of  interest  in  religion  true  of  the 
more  thoughtful  people  and  of  the  young  men.  Many  of  them 
are  beginning  to  feel  that  the  forms  of  Hinduism  were  proper 
and  fitting  centuries  ago,  but  that  they  no  longer  suit  the  times 
and  the  needs  of  the  people,  and  no  longer  express  their  real 
beliefs.  A  few  are  even  saying  that  religion  is  harmful.  Many 
more  continue  the  old  practices,  but  only  to  keep  up  their 
social  position  as  devout  and  conservative  Brahmins.  Thus 
many  people  go  on  pilgrimages  to  Benares  and  other  places  and 
'  Govinda  Das,  op.  cit.,  p.  vj. 
i6i 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

go  through  the  prescribed  actions,  but  with  no  real  belief  in 
their  efficacy,  and  merely  as  traditional  or  pleasant  or  socially 
profitable  performances." 

Perhaps  the  saddest  part  of  this  whole  process  of  degenera- 
tion is  to  be  found  not  in  the  loss  of  belief,  not  in  the  meaning- 
less forms,  not  even  in  the  immoralities  and  obscenities  con- 
nected with  some  of  the  sects,  but  in  the  hypocrisy  and  sham 
inevitably  bred  when  an  orthodox  but  unspiritual  conserva- 
tism meets  an  increasing  but  cowardly  intelligence.  There  are 
thousands  of  keen-witted  and  well-informed  Brahmins  through- 
out India  who  see  as  clearly  as  any  of  us  the  absurdities  of  the 
popular  idol  puja  and  the  harmful  and  immoral  influence  of 
many  of  the  common  rites  and  superstitions,  who  not  merely 
refrain  from  opposing  these  things,  but  take  active  part  in 
them,  sometimes  because  they  find  it  profitable  to  do  so,  more 
often  because  they  wish  to  avoid  the  social  inconvenience  that 
would  follow  a  sincere  declaration  of  their  real  views.  I  met  one 
of  these  men  at  the  great  Shiva  procession  in  Madura,  with 
forehead  profusely  daubed  with  sacred  signs  in  the  sacred  cow- 
dung,  and  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  performance.  At 
first  he  gave  me  an  elaborate  defense  of  Hindu  idolatry-  and 
cult;  but  when  I  pressed  him  he  admitted  that  he  considered 
the  whole  thing  not  only  silly  but  harmful.  And  when  I  asked 
why,  then,  he  participated  in  it,  he  said  frankly  it  was  because 
he  feared  social  disapproval  if  he  gave  it  up.  One  wonders 
how  these  men,  any  more  than  the  augurs  of  Cicero's  time, 
can  look  each  other  in  the  face  without  laughing. 

But  it  would  be  unfair  to  judge  Hinduism  by  its  external  and 
degraded  forms  ^  —  forms  which  those  who  believe  most  pro- 
foundly in  the  essence  of  Hinduism  are  the  first  to  deplore.  To 
gain  an  understanding  of  Christianity  we  should  hardly  send 

1  This  is  done  not  uncommonly  by  those  who  have  seen  the  unfortunate 
results  of  the  attempts  of  certain  swamis  to  disseminate  a  pseudo-Hinduism 
—  or  a  certain  part  of  Hinduism  —  in  the  West,  and  who  feel  moved  to 
show  up  a  side  of  Hinduism  which  the  swamis'  disciples  are  not  Hkely  to 
hear  mentioned.  An  example  of  this  rather  unjust  presentation  of  Hinduism 
in  order  to  protect  foolish  American  women  from  its  worst  sides  is  to  be 
found  in  Elizabeth  A.  Reed's  recent  book  Hinduism  in  Europe  and  America 
(New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  19 14).  No  doubt  nearly  all  the  assertions 
in  the  book  are  true,  yet  as  a  presentation  of  Hinduism  it  is  almost  as 
misleading  as  is  that  of  the  swamis  themselves. 

162 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

one  to  the  degenerate  monasteries  of  South  America  nor  to 
the  skeptics  of  modem  Germany.  And  to  understand  Hindu- 
ism, not  as  it  is  practiced  by  the  majority,  but  as  it  is  conceived 
—  and  loved  —  by  its  best  representatives,  we  must  consider 
its  more  ideal  aspect.  A  bird's-eye  view,  so  to  speak,  of  this 
more  ideal  side  of  Hinduism  —  the  Hinduism  which  the  intelli- 
gent Hindu  wishes  to  defend  —  may  therefore  serve  as  a  suit- 
able close  to  this  chapter. 

And  in  no  religion  is  a  bird's-eye  view  more  important  —  or 
more  difficult.  Here  more  than  anywhere  else  in  the  whole 
sphere  of  historical  religions  are  we  in  danger  of  missing  the 
forest  for  the  trees.  To  see  what  Hinduism  really  means,  what 
with  all  its  strange  forms  and  contradictory  beliefs  it  really  is 
about,  we  must  get  hold  of  its  central  concept  and  cling  firmly 
to  that  as  our  guide  and  interpreter.  This  central  concept  of 
Hinduism,  unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  is  the  soul.  It  is 
around  this  that  all  its  fantastic  forms  and  varied  beliefs,  its 
profound  philosophies  and  its  blind  superstitions,  center,  and 
from  it  alone  that  they  can  be  grasped  as  a  whole  and  under- 
stood. If,  putting  aside  for  a  time  our  criticisms,  we  look 
back  with  a  sympathetic  and  understanding  mind  at  Hindu- 
ism as  a  whole  from  this  point  of  view,  we  shall  bear  away  with 
us  a  general  impression  which  will  enable  us  to  comprehend 
to  some  extent  the  attitude  and  feeling  of  the  devout  Hindu 
toward  his  venerable  religion.  Sharing  his  beliefs,  then,  for  the 
moment,  we  shall  see  in  Hinduism  a  system  revealed  to  the 
Rishis,  and  by  the  Rishis  to  the  race,  before  the  da^\'n  of  his- 
tory; a  system  which  is  nothing  less  than  the  universal  Dharma, 
the  Way  of  Life  for  all  sentient  beings.  We  shall  see  the  One 
Absolute  Spirit  becoming  many,  as  the  fire  sends  forth  sparks, 
or  as  mists  arise  from  the  sea.  Thus  at  a  million  million  points 
spirit  invades  matter,  which  itself  in  fact  is  but  a  manifestation 
of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  These  various  offshoots  of  the  Divine, 
these  eternal  souls,  we  shall  see  (if  for  the  time  we  become 
good  Hindus),  through  varied  and  sinuous  courses  ever  striving 
backward  toward  their  source,  ever  seeking  God  who  is  their 
home.  Up  from  the  lowest  forms  of  life,  through  animal,  hu- 
man, and  divine,  with  varying  degrees  of  ignorance  and  insight, 
they  make  their  way,  but  ever  with  the  one  conscious  aim. 
163 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Among  the  animal  forms  this  aim  is  quite  inarticulate.  With 
man  it  becomes  more  definite ;  but  with  him  it  assumes  many 
forms  in  the  different  stages  of  his  development.  Some  wor- 
ship the  Divine  disguised  and  hidden  in  idols  of  wood  and 
stone;  some  image  It  as  an  invisible  but  anthropomorphic  Be- 
ing above  the  clouds;  a  few  understand  that  the  Eternal  is  in 
our  hearts,  closer  than  breathing  and  nearer  than  hands  and 
feet,  and  realize  that  there  are  not  many  separate  selves  but 
only  one  Self,  and  that  in  Him  all  beings,  human,  animal,  and 
divine,  are  eternally  united.  And  in  the  end  all  must  and  all 
shall  learn  this  lesson. 

The  very  structure  of  human  society,  in  so  far  as  it  embodies 
the  ideal  of  the  Rishis  as  laid  down  in  the  ancient  Shastras, 
reflects  this  one  great  purpose  —  the  education  of  the  soul.  All 
are  brothers,  but  some  are  younger  and  some  older.  All  have 
work  to  do,  but  the  work  of  each  is  adapted  to  his  ability.  The 
younger  brothers  in  the  World's  great  family,  —  the  lower 
classes  in  the  World's  great  school  —  have  the  duties  of  lowly 
service,  corresponding  to  their  undeveloped  natures.  Above 
these  stand  the  souls  whose  past  experience  in  previous  incarna- 
tions enables  them  to  undertake  the  larger  responsibilities  of 
the  community.  And  in  the  highest  human  class  are  those  who 
through  hundreds  of  faithful  lives  have  purified  their  souls  by 
knowledge  and  devotion,  and  have  thus  attained  to  deeper 
insight  and  to  greater  ability  to  lead  their  fellows  in  the  life  of 
the  spirit. 

And  the  life  of  the  individual  in  its  turn,  as  seen  by  the  de- 
vout Hindu,  should  be  and  may  be  —  and  if  it  follow  the 
Dharma  it  must  be  —  a  microcosm  of  society  and  of  the  Uni- 
verse, and  embody  the  same  great  purpose  as  they.  Its  first 
stage  should  be  devoted  to  mastering  the  knowledge  which  is 
the  spiritual  heritage  of  the  race,  its  second  to  productive  ser- 
vice, its  third  to  wise  and  unselfish  guidance  of  the  younger  gen- 
eration, while  in  his  last  few  years  the  old  man  wanders  out  by 
himself,  alone  with  God,  to  complete  his  liberation  from  the 
flesh,  and  to  realize  to  the  full  his  essential  unity  with  the  Di- 
vine. The  ideal  of  the  sannyasi  is  thus  the  crown  of  Hindu  life. 
His  departure  from  home  to  the  homeless  state  is  the  soul's 
Declaration  of  Independence.  And  throughout  the  centuries 
164 


TEACHERS,  PRIESTS,  AND   HOLY  MEN 

of  India's  great  Past,  and  even  to-day,  the  sannyasi  has  been 
and  still  is  an  unfaiHng  reminder  that  poverty  is  not  disgrace, 
and  a  Hving  protest  against  materiaHsm  and  against  the  soul's 
bondage  to  things. 

This  is  what  Hinduism  means  to  the  devout  and  intelligent 
Hindu.  To  him  the  life  of  the  individual,  the  structure  of  soci- 
ety, the  whole  of  human  history,  the  entire  cosmic  process 
present  themselves  as  aspects  and  phases  of  the  one  universal 
purpose,  the  training  and  education  of  the  soul  in  its  long 
pilgrimage  from  the  layer  of  the  brute  up  to  the  steps  of  the 
Throne  of  God. 


CHAPTER  IX 

REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

EVER  since  the  West  came  to  India  it  has  been  reforming  it. 
The  missionaries  have  been  reforming  its  religion  and  the 
British  Government  its  politics,  and  both  have  been  seeking  in 
more  or  less  direct  fashion  to  reform  its  social  customs.  But  it 
would  be  unfair  to  India  to  suppose  (and  I  suspect  the  supposi- 
tion is  not  uncommon)  that  in  all  this  reforming  movement  India 
itself  is  quite  passive  and  simply  waits  for  others  to  operate 
upon  it  —  like  a  man  in  the  dentist's  chair  or  a  patient  under 
ether.  There  have  always  been  native  reformers  in  India,  men 
who  saw  the  need  of  religious  and  social  changes  and  who  have 
sought  to  start  new  movements  in  the  right  direction.  Before 
India's  contact  with  the  West  these  movements  were,  indeed, 
primarily  religious  (though  of  course  religious  reforms  often 
involve  social  ones) ;  but  since  Western  education  and  ideals  got 
a  footing  in  the  land  both  religious  and  social  reform  move- 
ments among  the  Indians  have  not  been  uncommon.  In  the 
last  few  years  especially,  non-sectarian  efforts  for  educational 
and  charitable  purposes  and  for  the  reform  of  social  abuses 
have  been  taken  up  by  a  goodly  number  of  educated  Indians; 
and  a  word  or  two  about  some  typical  movements  of  this  sort 
should  be  said  before  we  go  on  to  consider  the  more  purely 
religious  reforms  that  have  sprung  up  within  Hinduism. 

The  fact  that  most  of  these  efforts  at  social  reform  have  orig- 
inated only  in  the  last  few  years  is  itself  significant.  For  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  desire  for  the  unselfish  service  of 
others  which  is  now  spreading  among  the  Indians  came  chiefly, 
though  indirectly,  from  Christianity  and  from  the  example  of 
Christian  missionaries.  The  desire  to  "acquire  merit"  and  to 
save  one's  own  soul  has  lain  so  heavily  upon  Hinduism  (as,  in- 
deed, it  did  upon  much  of  monkish  and  mediaeval  Christianity) 
that  it  seems  to  have  been  very  difficult  for  the  idea  of  purely 
objective  service  without  thought  of  reward  to  take  root.  "It 
1 66 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

may  seem  a  paradox,"  writes  the  editor  of  the  "  Indian  Interpre- 
ter," *  "  and  yet  it  is  true  that  the  very-  occupation  of  the  [Hindu] 
religion  with  the  desire  to  get  rid  of  the  self  has  made  it  selfish. 
The  individual  soul  and  its  fortunes  form  to  it  the  first  reality. 
The  ancient  saints  of  India  seem  never  able  altogether  to  forget 
themselves,  they  are  so  absorbed  in  the  endeavor,  never  accom- 
plished, to  escape  from  themselves.  We  cannot  imagine  them 
saying  like  Wilberforce,  when  a  lady  reproached  him  for  neg- 
lecting in  his  concern  for  the  slaves  the  needs  of  his  own  soul,  — 
'Madam,  I  had  almost  forgotten  that  I  had  a  soul.' "  It  was 
only  after  the  Indians  had  seen  the  example  of  the  Christian 
missionary  that  this  great  idea  of  purely  selfless  ser\-ice  for  its 
own  sake  —  this  objective  frame  of  mind  —  dawned  upon  any 
considerable  number  of  them.  To  their  credit  be  it  said,  how- 
ever, that  once  this  idea  was  presented  to  them  in  the  bodily 
form  of  unselfish  Christian  lives,  it  made  a  strong  appeal  and 
has  been  adopted  eagerly  and  put  into  practice  by  leading 
Indians  of  every  religion. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  give  even  a  list  of  the  various 
native  organizations  and  institutions  in  which  this  new  desire 
for  helpfulness  is  expressing  itself.  Instead  I  shall  give  merely  a 
few  examples,  taken  almost  at  random,  as  illustrations  of  the 
sort  of  thing  that  is  going  on  in  many  parts  of  India.  Perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  of  these  organizations  is  the  "Servants  of 
India  Society":  for  it  has  chosen  as  its  province  nothing  less 
than  the  alleviation  of  even,-  kind  of  suffering,  the  attack  upon 
every  kind  of  wrong.  It  was  founded  in  1905  by  Mr.  G.  K. 
Gokhale,-  an  Indian  gentleman  whom  India  rightly  regards  as 
a  truly  great  man.  Mr.  Gokhale  had  seen  the  power  that  the 
new  idea  of  service  was  gaining  in  India  and  he  recognized  the 
fact  that  without  wise  guidance  it  would  be  wasted.  He  there- 
fore conceived  of  an  institution  composed  of  a  few  experienced 
and  devoted  workers  who  should  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
to  respond  to  even,' call  in  the  service  of  India,  initiate  reforms, 
lend  advice,  and  organize  new  centers  of  work,  and  also  give  to 

1  October,  1913,  p.  99. 

*  Mr.  Gokhale  died  on  February  19,  1915,  and  his  loss  was  regarded  as 
a  national  calamity  in  all  parts  of  India.  The  Servants  of  India  Society  is 
being  continued,  however,  with  the  Hon.  V.  S.«  Srinavasa  Sastry  as 
President. 

167 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

promising  young  men  a  systematic  modern  training  in  social 
service  which  should  turn  them  out  into  the  great  field  not 
merely  enthusiasts  but  experts.  Only  the  devoted  may  join  this 
band.  All  who  enter  it  must  recognize  the  service  of  their 
country  as  their  supreme  end  in  life;  to  this  service  they  must 
give  their  entire  time  and  strength,  earning  no  money  for  them- 
selves, but  content  to  live  upon  what  little  the  Society  can 
afford  them  for  support;  and  they  must  promise  "to  regard  all 
Indians  as  brothers  and  to  work  for  their  advancement  without 
distinction  of  caste  or  creed."  The  Society  has  at  present 
twenty-five  members.  They  come  from  various  provinces  and 
from  various  castes.  They  all  are  Hindus  but  one,  who  is  a 
Mohammedan.  At  their  headquarters  in  Poona  they  have  a 
school  in  which  each  of  the  new  "Servants"  is  required  to 
spend  four  months  in  study  during  each  of  the  first  five  years  of 
his  membership. 

The  work  of  the  "Servants  of  India"  is  as  wide  as  is  India's 
social  need.  A  bare  list  of  their  activities  would  cover  pages: 
including  such  things  as  the  formation  of  elementary  educa- 
tional leagues;  the  promotion  of  female  education  by  founding 
schools  for  girls  and  the  building-up  through  the  press  of  a  sane 
public  opinion  on  this  and  other  subjects;  the  initiation  of  agri- 
cultural improvements  and  the  instruction  of  the  small  farmer; 
the  sanitation  of  villages;  the  founding  of  various  cooperative 
societies  particularly  among  the  lowest  classes  —  including 
millhands  and  the  despised  Sweeper  Caste;  the  purifying  of 
public  festivals  from  various  traditional  indecencies,  and  the 
substitution  for  these  of  healthy  entertainments;  the  provision 
of  popular  instructive  lectures  and  traveling  libraries,  and 
classes  where  men  and  women  may  learn  the  elements  of  hy- 
giene and  sanitation;  instruction  of  the  masses  in  the  value  of 
inoculation  against  the  plague;  plague  relief;  famine  relief, 
etc.  As  I  have  said,  there  are  but  twenty-five  members  in  the 
Society  as  yet;  but  every  one  of  them  is  a  center  for  many 
workers,  whose  enthusiasm  he  rouses,  and  whose  activity  he 
organizes  and  directs.  One  of  the  chief  efforts  of  the  Society  is 
the  foundation  of  new  institutions  or  committees  all  over  India 
for  the  accomplishment  of  particular  ends  —  organizations 
which  thereafter  become  independent  and  self-supporting. 
i68 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

Partly  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  these  Servants  of  India, 
partly  from  the  work  of  other  servants  who  do  not  belong  to 
Mr.  Gokhale's  society,  the  number  of  organizations  for  social 
service  throughout  India  is  rapidly  growing.  The  names  of  a 
few  will  indicate  the  kind  of  work  they  are  doing :  The  Deccan 
Educational  League,  the  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Children, 
the  Social  Service  League,  the  Seva  Sadan  (for  the  rescue  and 
education  of  women),  the  National  Social  Conference,  the 
Social  Reform  Association,  the  Plague  Relief  Committee,  the 
Central  Famine  Relief  Committee,  various  local  temperance 
associations,  the  Annual  Temperance  Conference,  the  Indian 
Ladies'  Conference,  the  fifty  Hindu  and  the  forty-one  Mos- 
lem orphanages,  etc.  Mention  should  also  be  made  of  the 
periodicals  of  reform  which  have  sprung  up  in  recent  years, 
the  most  important  of  which  is  the  "Indian  Social  Reformer 
of  Bombay,"  now  completing  its  twenty-fifth  year,  while  the 
tw^o  youngest  are  the  "Social  Reform  Advocate"  of  Madras, 
founded  in  December,  1914,  and  the  Bombay  "Social  Service 
Quarterly,"  started  in  June,  1915.  These  papers  exert  a  real 
and  beneficent  influence  in  many  parts  of  the  peninsula. 

Besides  these  educational  and  charitable  organizations  I 
should  mention  the  attack  which  Indian  reformers  are  making 
on  certain  crying  evils  peculiar  to  India  and  due  to  her  social 
structure  and  her  traditions.  The  most  important  and  funda- 
mental of  these  evils  is  the  caste  system.  And  against  this  the 
present  war  is  proving  itself  an  ally  and  friend  of  India.  The 
thousands  of  brave  soldiers  who  have  crossed  the  seas  to  fight 
for  the  King-Emperor  have  thereby  broken  caste,  but  it  is 
unthinkable  that  they  will  be  "outcasted"  for  it.  These  sol- 
diers, moreover,  are  from  many  different  castes,  and  in  the 
trenches  of  France  and  Flanders  they  have  learned  to  live  on 
terms  of  closest  intimacy,  —  a  lesson  which  they  are  not  likely 
completely  to  forget  on  their  return  to  India.  But  peace  as  well 
as  war  works  for  reform,  and  the  greatest  foe  of  the  caste  system 
is  modern  life  itself.  Only  India  would  have  tolerated  the  irra- 
tional and  self-imposed  restrictions  of  caste  as  long  as  it  has, 
and  India  is  beginning  to  grow  tired  of  them.  The  chief  up- 
holders of  the  system  have  always  been  the  Brahmins;  but 
today  the  Brahmins,  being  the  most  intelligent  class  in  India, 
169 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

find  caste  restrictions  particularly  galling.  As  a  result  many 
of  them  are  beginning  to  break  caste  whenever  they  feel  secure 
in  not  being  found  out.  A  most  enthusiastic  Bengalee  Brah- 
min whom  I  met  upon  a  train  stopped,  in  the  course  of  a  schol- 
arly exposition  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  to  quench  his  thirst 
with  a  bottle  of  soda-water  which  I  had  seen  him  purchase  of 
a  low-caste  dealer  in  the  last  station,  I  asked  him  how  he 
reconciled  this  with  the  strong  belief  he  had  expressed  in 
the  good  old  customs  of  his  country'.  "You  see,"  he  answered, 
"there  are  no  other  Brahmins  about!" 

But  while  the  lesser  evils  of  caste  —  such  as  the  prohibition 
against  leaving  India  and  against  dining  with  Europeans  —  are 
bound  to  fall  of  their  own  weight,  the  same  is  not  true  of  many 
of  the  absurd  divisions  that  the  caste  system  brings  into  Indian 
society,  and  especially  of  the  cruel  wrongs  perpetrated  in  its 
name  upon  the  millions  who  stand  below  the  Shudras  in  the 
social  scale.  Fortunately  some  of  the  more  liberal-minded 
Indians  are  making  a  brave  attempt  to  face  these  evils  and  to 
rouse  public  sentiment  against  them. 

Attacks  of  a  mild  nature  have  been  made  upon  the  system 
for  many  centuries.  The  Buddhists,  Jainas,  and  Sikhs  in  the 
days  of  their  founders  all  to  some  extent  opposed  caste.  But 
caste  reform  by  these  bodies  was  for  centuries  discontinued  and 
is  only  now  showing  signs  of  renewal.  At  present  the  oldest 
institution  that  is  really  attacking  the  caste  system  is  the 
Brahmo  Samaj  —  of  which  more  farther  on.  The  Arya  Samaj 
neither  accepts  caste  as  it  is  nor  has  altogether  broken  with  it; 
it  opposes  caste  in  a  mild  way,  but  does  not  (as  does  the 
Brahmo  Samaj)  insist  upon  its  members  giving  up  their  caste. 
Beside  these  there  are  a  few  local  organizations  which  aim  to 
attack  the  system  either  directly  or  indirectly.  One  of  the  most 
important  is  the  "Aryan  Brotherhood"  of  Bombay,  which  was 
established  in  1909  with  the  express  purpose  of  rousing  public 
sentiment  against  caste  restrictions.  It  admits  to  its  member- 
ship men  of  ever>'  caste  and  no  caste,  and  constantly  advocates 
the  disregard  of  caste  rules  and  the  spread  of  enlightenment  on 
the  subject.  The  society  has  attractive  club-rooms  in  which 
men  of  various  castes  meet.  Occasionally  a  dinner  is  held  at 
which  all  the  members  dine  together  —  a  shocking  thing  in 
170 


REFORM  MOVExMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

India !  —  and  the  names  of  those  present  are  pubHshed.  This  is 
done  as  a  deUberate  challenge  to  the  castes  —  for  in  Bombay 
the  conservative  upholders  of  the  old  rules  are  not  so  belligerent 
as  they  are  in  smaller  and  less  enlightened  centers.  If  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Society'  simply  dined  together  the  castes  would  take 
no  notice  of  it,  even  if  the  names  of  those  present  happened  to 
be  known.  But  when  the  names  are  published  the  castes  cannot 
ignore  it  and  have  to  take  action,  attempting  to  force  their 
members  to  go  through  purification  ceremonies.  Thus  the  bat- 
tle is  opened,  and  if  the  members  have  the  moral  courage  to 
resist  and  defy  their  relatives,  the  caste  rules  are  by  so  much 
brought  into  contempt.  The  members  of  the  Arv^an  Brother- 
hood with  whom  I  have  talked  are  very  sanguine  as  to  the 
future.  They  expect  that  the  movement  they  have  started  will 
spread  to  all  the  more  enhghtened  parts  of  India  and  that  be- 
fore long  all  restrictions  on  communal  eating  will  be  given  up 
among  the  intelligent. 

But  the  crudest  results  of  the  caste  system  have  to  do  with 
the  outcastes  —  the  "  depressed  classes"  as  they  are  called,  the 
scum  of  the  earth,  as  they  are  regarded  —  too  defiled  to  be 
allowed  in  any  Hindu  temple,  too  low  for  the  love  of  God  to 
reach.  Something  is  being  done  for  them  at  last.  In  fact,  back 
in  the  days  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  —  in  1870  —  the  Brahmo 
Samaj  began  work  for  these  fifty  million  "untouchables,"  and 
the  Bombay  branch  of  the  Samaj  —  known  as  the  Prarthna 
Samaj  —  has  especially  distinguished  itself  in  its  efTorts  for 
their  uplifting.  It  was  chiefly  under  its  auspices  and  direction 
that  "the  Depressed  Classes  Mission  Society  of  India  "  was 
started  in  1906,  of  whose  work  Mr.  Saint  Nihal  Singh  could 
write  as  follows  early  in  1913:  "During  the  seven  years  that 
have  passed  since  its  foundation  this  Society  has  spread  its 
branches  far  and  wide  in  various  parts  of  the  Peninsula,  and 
has  come  to  be  regarded  as  unquestionably  the  best  effort  put 
forward  by  non-Christian  India  to  create  an  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  low-castes  and  improve  their  condition.  Its  activi- 
ties are  many-sided.  The  parent  body,  at  Bombay,  for  instance, 
maintains  several  schools,  a  boarding-house,  a  bookbindery,  a 
shoe  factory,  and  a  mission.  The  workers  visit  the  homes  of  the 
poor  pariahs  and  endeavor  to  persuade  the  parents  to  send 
171 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

their  children  to  school;  attempt  to  teach  them  the  necessity  of 
cleanliness  of  body,  clothes,  and  home;  arrange  for  a  doctor  to 
visit  those  who  are  ill ;  nurse  them  in  their  homes  free  of  charge, 
or  help  them  to  get  into  some  charitable  hospital ;  visit  the  tene- 
ments and  conduct  regular  home  classes  for  grown  women,  who 
are  taught  reading,  writing,  and  sewing;  and  read  from  the 
Hindu  Scriptures  passages  calculated  to  inspire  them  with 
higher  ideals."  ^ 

The  Arya  Samaj  has  also  done  something  for  these  "unap- 
proachables."  Recognizing  the  influence  of  traditional  forms 
on  the  Indian  mind,  the  Arya  leaders  have  attempted  to  make 
the  untouchables  touchable  by  putting  them  through  a  tradi- 
tional religious  ceremony,  shaving  their  heads  in  orthodox 
Hindu  fashion,  and  endowing  them  with  the  sacred  triple  cord. 
Care  is  taken  to  use  plenty  of  mantras  at  this  servdce,  and  on  its 
conclusion  the  Brahmin  members  of  the  Samaj  accept  sweet- 
meats from  the  formerly  untouchable  initiates,  in  token  that 
their  vileness  is  taken  away.  Some  even  go  so  far  as  to  visit  the 
homes  of  these  newly  consecrated  Hindus  and  eat  food  cooked 
by  their  wives.  "This  was  a  bold  step,"  says  Mr.  Singh,  "and 
caused  a  great  commotion  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  [It  was 
first  tried  in  1899.]  But  the  Arya  Samaj  has  persevered  in  its 
efforts  in  this  direction,  and  during  the  last  decade  has  uplifted 
thousands  of  people  belonging  to  the  depressed  classes.  The 
strange  part  of  it  is  that  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  orthodox 
Hindus  in  some  localities  are  gradually  ceasing  to  ill-treat  the 
'purified'  panchamas  [fifth  caste  men],  but  look  on  them  as 
their  brothers  in  the  faith,  and  no  longer  regard  them  as  'un- 
touchable.' The  Samaj  is  supplementing  this  work  by  carr>'ing 
on  a  propaganda  to  fit  the  lowly  ones  to  occupy  their  new  posi- 
tion in  society  by  educating  them.  A  school  is  maintained  at 
Sialkote,  where  young  'unapproachable'  boys  are  taught  to  be 
responsible  men,  and  arrangements  are  being  made  to  start 
other  similar  institutions."  ^ 

The  Sikhs,  the  Moslems,  the  Deva  Samaj,  the  Theosophical 
Society,  and  a  few  local  Hindu  societies  are  all  doing  something 
for  the  depressed  classes,  and  their  efforts  are  being  seconded  by 

^  "India's  Untouchables,"  Contemporary  Review  for  March,  1913,  p. 381. 
^  Op.  cit.,  p.  382. 

172 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

some  of  the  more  advanced  native  rulers,  particularly  by  that 
most  intelligent  Maharaja,  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda.  With  his 
usual  wisdom  he  has  realized  that  if  the  outcastes  are  to  be 
respected  they  must  first  be  made  respectable;  hence  his  efforts 
are  directed  chiefly  to  the  education  of  these  unfortunates,  and 
he  has  covered  Baroda  with  schools  and  academies  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  the  children  of  outcastes.  But  in  spite  of  these 
admirable  efforts  of  high-minded  Indians  in  various  localities, 
it  still  is  true  that  in  India  as  a  whole  the  outcaste's  best  friend 
is  the  Christian  missionary. 

Another  evil  tradition  to  which  the  Indians  are  beginning  to 
pay  some  attention  (thanks  again  to  Christian  suggestions)  is 
the  custom  of  forbidding  the  remarriage  of  widows.  This  cus- 
tom is  particularly  harmful  and  even  cruel  in  India  owing  to  the 
twofold  fact  that  many  of  the  widows  are  little  girls,  and  that 
(thanks  to  the  doctrine  of  Karma)  they  are  often  regarded  as 
having  been  the  cause  of  the  premature  death  of  their  husbands, 
through  some  sin  committed  by  them  in  a  previous  incarnation. 
There  are  said  to  be  23,000,000  widows  in  India,  of  whom  112,- 
000  are  under  ten  years  of  age.  On  the  husband's  death  the  little 
girl's  head  is  shaved,  her  pretty  adornments  are  broken,  and 
she  is  devoted  thereafter  to  a  life  of  compulsory  usefulness.  No 
one  will  marry  her  and  if  she  stays  with  her  husband's  family 
she  must  earn  her  keep.  As  a  rule  she  has  had  but  little  educa- 
tion and  therefore  cannot  go  out  into  the  world  and  earn  her 
living  as  a  teacher  or  as  a  nurse.  Practically  no  other  money- 
making  occupations  are  open  to  women  in  India.  There  is  thus 
little  for  her  to  look  forward  to  and  little  to  brighten  her  life. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  the  number  of  suicides  among  these 
women  is  always  large. 

Already  sixty  years  ago  a  few  very  advanced  Hindu  gentle- 
men began  to  take  steps  for  the  mitigation  of  these  evils.  In 
1856  the  Government  passed  an  Act  legalizing  the  remarriage 
of  widows,  and  "about  1870  an  agitation  was  started  in  the 
Bombay  Presidency  for  the  purpose  of  rousing  Hindus  to 
such  sympathy  with  widows  as  would  make  widow-marriage 
really  possible  in  Hindu  society."  ^  In  1887  a  Widows'  Home 
was  established  near  Calcutta,  by  a  Hindu  gentleman  named 
1  Farquhar,  Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India,  p.  402. 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Banerjea.  Since  then  nearly  a  dozen  "Homes"  have  been  or- 
ganized by  Indians  in  various  parts  of  the  land,  perhaps  the 
most  influential  being  the  one  established  by  Mr.  Karve  at 
Poona  which  in  1896  gave  the  impetus  to  the  founding  of  the 
Hindu  Widows'  Home  Association.  The  aim  of  this  organiza- 
tion is  to  educate  young  widows  and  prepare  them  to  become 
teachers,  or  nurses,  and  if  possible  to  form  from  them  "a  class 
of  Hindu  sisters  of  charity  and  mercy."  ^  A  Widow  Remar- 
riage Association  has  also  been  formed  which  is  receiving  a 
good  deal  of  encouragement  and  assistance. ^ 

But  there  will  continue  to  be  millions  of  sad  child-widows 
in  India  just  so  long  as  the  custom  of  child  marriage  contin- 
ues. This  is  the  more  fundamental  evil  of  the  two  and  from  it 
not  only  child-widowhood  but  various  other  evils  grow.  There 
are  302,000  wives  in  India  under  six  years  of  age,  and  22,500,- 
000  between  five  and  ten.  Most  of  these,  of  course,  do  not  yet 
live  with  their  husbands;  but  there  are  over  9,400,000  girls 
under  sixteen  who  have  entered  the  marriage  state  in  the  full 
sense  of  the  word.  Most  girls  are  taken  from  school  at  ten  to  be 
married  and  thereafter  receive  no  more  education.  Out  of  every 
hundred  girls  of  school  age,  just  four  are  in  school.  From  this  it 
may  be  imagined  how  fit  they  are  to  be  intellectual  comrades 
for  their  husbands  (who,  indeed,  are  sometimes  fifteen,  but 
sometimes  fifty),  or  to  fulfill  the  intellectual  and  moral  require- 
ments of  motherhood  and  mould  the  minds  of  the  next  genera- 
tion. It  is  said  that  about  twenty-five  per  cent  of  Hindu 
women  die  prematurely  through  early  marriages,  and  as  many 
more  become  semi-invalids  from  the  same  cause. 

The  first  attack  against  this  and  other  evils  connected  with 
the  Hindu  family  (including  the  prejudice  against  widow- 
remarriage)  was  made  by  Christian  missionaries.  But  the 
Brahmo  Samaj  early  took  up  the  fight  in  very  efficient  fashion, 
and  the  Prarthna  Samaj  has  also  done  its  share.  The  Arya 
Samaj,  too,  has  done  something.  In  1891  the  Government 
raised  the  age  of  consent  (in  the  provinces,  not  in  the  native 
states)  from  ten  to  twelve.    But  though  cohabitation  with  a 

^  See  Mr.  Karve's  article  in  the  Indian  Interpreter  for  October,  1913. 
*  The  Indian  Social  Reformer  for  January  3,  1915,  notes  a  gift  to  the 
Association  of  30,000  rupees. 

174 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

wife  under  twelve  is  now  illegal,  the  law  is  very  poorly  enforced, 
its  rigid  enforcement  being  almost  impossible  without  the 
backing  of  public  opinion.  A  purely  non-sectarian  society, 
whose  aim  it  is  to  rouse  public  opinion  and  raise  still  higher  the 
marriage-age  of  girls,  was  organized  in  December,  1909,  under 
the  name  the  "Hindu  Marriage  Reform  League."  Its  founder 
and  first  president  was  a  Hindu  and  all  its  members  are  Hindus; 
but  it  should  be  added  that  the  organization  of  the  Society  was 
largely  due  to  two  American  ladies,  one  of  whom  (Miss  Carrie 
A.  Tennant)  has  devoted  her  entire  time  ever  since  to  the  or- 
ganization of  new  local  centers  and  to  the  rather  difficult  task 
of  keeping  up  the  enthusiasm  of  the  members.  The  League 
has  now  ninety-eight  branches  (fifty-two  for  men,  fort>'-six  for 
women),  all  in  flourishing  condition.  It  maintains  a  library  and 
free  reading-room  at  Simla,  and  publishes  a  monthly  journal  in 
the  interests  of  its  great  cause.  It  aims  to  induce  as  many 
young  men  as  possible  to  take  the  vow  not  to  marry  girls  under 
twelve  years  (preferably  the  girl  should  be  at  least  sixteen),  and 
to  obtain  from  as  many  fathers  as  possible  the  promise  not  to 
give  their  daughters  in  marriage  before  they  have  reached  that 
age.  This  they  hope  to  do  by  means  of  constant  agitation  — 
working  on  public  opinion  through  lectures,  pamphlets,  and, 
especially,  through  example.  Ultimately  they  hope  for  a  law 
forbidding  the  marriage  of  girls  under  sixteen.^ 

One  more  aim  of  the  Hindu  Marriage  Reform  League  is  to 
rouse  public  opinion  against  the  present  custom  which  requires 
the  father  of  the  prospective  bride  to  give  his  future  son-in-law 
a  large  dowry  with  his  child.  As  the  dowries  required  are  exorbi- 
tant, and  as  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  girl  to  find  a  husband 
without  one,  the  problem  has  become  very  serious.  Fathers 
are  often  financially  crippled  or  ruined  in  order  to  avoid  the  dis- 
grace of  having  a  daughter  still  unmarried  at  fifteen  or  sixteen; 
and  young  men  are  practically  bought  as  husbands  —  sold  to 
the  highest  bidder.  Both  the  Marriage  Reform  League  and  the 

1  Even  conservative  Hindus,  though  unprepared  to  go  so  far  as  the 
League,  recognize  some  of  the  evils  of  early  marriage  and  are  willing  that 
some  change  should  be  made  in  present  customs.  The  191 5  Conference  of 
the  All  India  Orthodox  Hindus,  at  Hardwar,  "passed  a  resolution  recom- 
mending the  minimum  marriageable  age  of  boys  to  be  fixed  at  18  and  that 
of  girls  at  8  years. "    {The  Indian  Social  Reformer  for  May  9,  1915.) 

175 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Social  Reform  Association  have  been  attacking  this  evil  cus- 
tom and  their  efforts  have  recently  received  notable  reinforce- 
ment from  a  young  girl  in  Calcutta,  whose  name  will  not  soon 
be  forgotten.  Snehalata  had  reached  the  advanced  age  of  four- 
teen, and  was  still  unmarried.  Her  father  had  made  every  ef- 
fort to  collect  enough  money  to  buy  a  husband  for  her,  but  in 
vain  —  for  the  price  demanded  for  a  bridegroom  was  eight 
hundred  rupees  in  cash  and  twelve  hundred  in  jewelry.  There 
was  nothing  left  him  but  to  mortgage  the  home.  Snehalata  de- 
termined to  prevent  this  sacrifice ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  con- 
tribute what  one  life  could  contribute  to  the  destruction  of  a 
custom  which  had  brought  misery  upon  so  many  thousands  of 
loving  fathers  beside  her  own.  Having  dressed  herself  in  her 
best,  she  climbed  to  the  roof  of  the  house,  soaked  her  clothes  in 
kerosene,  and  setting  fire  to  them  stood  there  burning  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  neighborhood.  An  attempt  was  made  to  save 
her,  but  it  was  too  late. 

In  the  pathetic  note  that  she  left  she  said  among  other 
things:  "After  I  am  gone,  father,  I  know  you  will  shed  tears 
over  my  ashes.  I  shall  be  gone  —  but  the  house  will  be  saved. 
I  have  been  pondering  on  the  best  way  of  ending  my  worldly 
pilgrimage  —  Fire,  Water,  or  Poison,  I  have  preferred  the 
first,  and  may  the  conflagration  I  shall  kindle  set  the  whole 
country  on  fire!" 

This  last  prayer  of  hers  seems  in  part  to  have  been  granted. 
For  her  sacrifice  created  a  deep  impression  in  Bengal  and  in 
other  parts  of  India.  Several  girls  in  the  last  few  months  have 
followed  her  example  and  gone  bravely  to  a  self-imposed  and 
dreadful  death,  and  these  heroic  little  women  are  doing  more 
than  many  hours  of  lectures  and  many  tons  of  pamphlets  to 
bring  home  to  young  men  and  old  the  cruelty  and  shame  of  the 
custom  which  brought  about  their  sacrifice.^ 

^  The  methods  used  to  spread  Snehalata's  influence  may  seem  to  us  at 
times  a  little  odd,  but  the  influence  is  none  the  less  real.  Thus  the  Jaina 
Gazette  for  April,  1914,  informs  us  that  "a  Beharee  gentleman  of  Bhagalpore 
has  offered  to  award  a  cup  to  be  named  the  '  Snehalata  Cup,'  open  to  Six-a- 
side Football  Teams.  .  .  .  The  cup  bears  the  picture  of  Snehalata  in  flames 
with  a  vow  engraved  on  it  not  to  be  a  party  to  a  marriage  dowry.  The  com- 
petition has  been  open  to  all  young  men  in  Behar,  and  they  must  subscribe 
to  the  following  vow:  'I  solemnly  declare  that  I  shall  not  be  a  party  to 
enforce  marriage  dowr>'  either  directly  or  indirectly:  so  help  me  God.'"  — 

176 


REFORxM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

We  shall  now  turn  to  some  of  the  more  strictly  religious  re- 
form movements  of  India.  In  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  in  fact  up  till  about  1870,  things  began  to  look  rather  dark 
for  Hinduism.  The  educated  Indians  were  growing  quite  away 
from  their  native  religion,  leaving  it  almost  without  leaders  or 
intelligent  defenders  and  interpreters;  and  the  only  question 
worth  asking  seemed  to  be  whether  Christianity  or  skepticism 
should  be  its  heir.  But  toward  the  close  of  the  century  rein- 
forcements came  into  the  beleaguered  fortress;  and  Hinduism 
entered  upon  a  period  of  renaissance  which  it  is  still  enjoying. 
As  a  result  a  new  cult  of  the  Vedas  and  Shastras  was  estab- 
lished; intelligent  and  educated  Indians  were  led  to  search  for 
spiritual  food  in  the  writings  and  traditions  and  religious  cus- 
toms of  their  own  country;  and  a  defense  was  sought  not  only 
in  authority,  but  in  reason  and  experience  for  various  Hindu 
customs  which  but  a  few  years  before  the  more  enlightened 
Indians  had  condemned.  ^ 

The  Ramakrishna  movement  is  not  the  oldest  of  these  forces 
in  the  restoration  of  Hinduism,  but  it  is  the  most  thoroughly 
Hindu.  Its  founder,  Ramakrishna,  was  a  man  in  whom  the 
Indian  type  of  spirituality  expressed  itself  to  an  unusual  degree. 
Brought  up  as  a  servitor  in  a  temple  of  Kali,  he  became  pos- 

Unfortunately  the  public  indignation  against  the  dowry  custom  is  now 
beginning  to  lose  some  of  its  force.  In  June  of  this  year  the  Editor  of 
the  Bengalee,,  in  speaking  of  the  eflfect  of  Snehalata's  martyrdom,  wTote: 
"  Meetings  were  held,  vows  were  taken;  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  within  a 
measurable  distance  of  the  abolition  of  a  very  pernicious  usage.  But  this 
wicked  thing  yet  lives.  The  monster  only  hid  its  head  to  rise  again  when 
the  storm  passed  by;  and  thus  we  find  even  now  extortionate  demands 
made  by  the  bridegrooms  and  their  parents  and  guardians." 

^  Particularly  notable  is  the  attempt  of  many  enthusiastic  supporters  of 
Hinduism  to  make  use  of  methods  which  have  proved  fruitful  in  the  hands 
of  missionaries  in  the  diffusion  of  Christianity.  Mr.  Farquhar  gives  a  short 
summary'  of  them  as  follows:  '"Missionaries'  have  been  sent  out,  'Mis- 
sions' established,  'Prayer  Meetings'  held,  'Young  Men's  Hindu  Associa- 
tions' formed,  'Gita  Classes'  conducted,  'Inquirers'  interviewed,  'Tracts' 
distributed.  .  .  .  Some  Hindus  of  Madras  have  got  out  a  little  Hindu  Man- 
ual to  distribute  (to  those  who  pass  University  Examinations).  ...  A  little 
volume  has  appeared  consisting  of  verses  from  the  Gita  and  the  Bhagavat 
Purana  in  English  and  entitled  the  Imitation  of  Shrikrishnal  Single  Gospels 
are  sold  all  over  India  in  the  vernacular  at  a  pice  each:  a  Bengali  translation 
of  the  Gita  is  now  sold  in  the  streets  of  Calcutta  at  the  same  price."  "The 
Future  of  Christianity  in  India";  reprinted  from  the  Hindustan  Review 
(Lahore,  1904),  p,  36. 

177 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

sessed  while  still  a  boy  with  extreme  devotion  to  the  Great 
Mother,  and  with  a  longing  for  perfect  purity  and  for  an  im- 
mediate realization  of  the  Divine.  Early  in  life  he  turned 
sannyasi  and  for  a  period  of  years  put  himself  through  trying 
ordeals  with  the  aim  of  overcoming  every  weakness  of  the  flesh 
and  all  attachment  to  this  world.  In  order  to  understand  bet- 
ter the  nature  of  the  Divine,  —  not  by  theological  discourses, 
but  through  immediate  experience,  —  he  joined  in  the  worship 
of  the  various  Hindu  sects,  low  and  high;  he  lived  for  some 
time  with  a  Mohammedan  saint;  and  learned  what  he  could 
from  Christianity.  He  took  every  man's  religion  very  seriously 
and  he  tried  so  far  as  possible  to  practice  each  and  to  under- 
stand it  from  the  inside. 

"Thus  from  actual  experience,"  says  his  disciple  Viveka- 
nanda  in  writing  of  him,  "he  came  to  know  that  the  goal  of 
every  religion  is  the  same,  that  each  is  trying  to  teach  the  same 
thing,  the  difference  being  largely  in  method  and  still  more  in 
language.  At  the  core,  all  sects  and  all  religions  have  the  same 
aim." 

"As  the  same  sugar  is  made  into  various  figures,"  Rama- 
krishna  used  to  say  to  his  disciples,  "so  one  sweet  Mother 
Divine  is  worshiped  in  various  climes  and  ages  under  various 
names  and  forms.  Different  creeds  are  but  different  paths  to 
reach  the  Almighty.  As  with  one  gold  various  ornaments  are 
made  having  different  forms  and  names,  so  one  God  is  wor- 
shiped in  different  countries  and  ages,  and  has  different  forms 
and  names."  ^ 

In  his  later  years  Ramakrishna  came  to  feel  that  he  had  a 
divine  commission  to  preach  the  truth ;  and  by  that  he  meant 
no  new  doctrine,  but  the  ancient  conviction  of  India  that  God 
is  closer  to  us  than  breathing  and  nearer  than  hands  or  feet,  and 
that  man's  first  duty  is  to  realize  the  Divine  within  himself. 
This  I  say  he  constantly  preached:  yet  he  was  no  public 
preacher  and  never  even  went  to  meet  an  audience ;  —  the  au- 
dience came  to  him.    "When  the  rose  is  blown,"  he  used  to 

*  Max  Muller,  The  Life  and  Sayings  of  Ramakrishna,  p.  lOO.  A  new  Life 
of  Sri  Ramakrishna  (by  Swami  Saradananda)  is  just  being  published  in  the 
Prabuddha  Bharata,  the  first  instalment  having  appeared  in  the  January, 
1915,  number. 

178 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

say,  "and  sheds  its  fragrance  all  around,  the  bees  come  of 
themselves.  The  bees  seek  the  full-blown  rose,  and  not  the  rose 
the  bees."  The  fame  of  his  spiritual  wisdom  gradually  spread 
through  the  country-side,  and  "numbers  of  earnest  men  of  all 
sects  and  creeds  began  to  flock  to  him  to  receive  instruction 
and  to  drink  the  waters  of  life.  From  day-dawn  to  nightfall  he 
had  no  leisure  to  eat  or  drink,  so  engaged  was  he  in  teaching, 
exhorting,  and  ministering  to  the  wants  of  these  hungry  souls. 
.  .  .  Though  this  incessant  labor  began  at  last  to  tell  upon 
him,  yet  he  would  not  rest.  When  pressed  to  do  so  he  would 
say :  '  I  would  suffer  willingly  all  sorts  of  bodily  pains  and  death 
also,  a  hundred  times  if  by  doing  so  I  could  bring  one  single 
soul  to  freedom  and  salvation.'  " 

Finally,  in  1885,  he  was  attacked  with  cancer  of  the  throat, 
and  the  physicians  advised  him  to  keep  the  strictest  silence. 
"But  the  advice  was  to  no  effect.  Crowds  of  men  and  women 
gathered  wherever  he  went,  and  waited  patiently  to  hear  a 
single  word  from  his  mouth,  and  he,  out  of  compassion  for  them, 
would  not  remain  silent.  .  .  .  Even  when  the  passage  of  his 
throat  became  so  constricted  that  he  could  not  swallow  even 
liquid  food,  he  would  never  stop  his  efforts.  He  was  undaunted 
and  remained  as  cheerful  as  ever  till,  on  August  16, 1886,  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  night,  he  entered  into  Samadhi  from  which  he 
never  returned."  ^ 

Ramakrishna  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  remarkable  per- 
sonal magnetism.  Though  with  no  knowledge  of  the  English 
language  nor  of  European  culture,  and  with  no  wide  reading  in 
Indian  literature,  he  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  many 
hundreds  who  came  to  talk  with  him.  And  he  seems  to  have 
left  on  nearly  all  who  knew  him  the  conviction  that  here  was  a 
man  who  had  communed  face  to  face  with  God.  Vivekananda 
summarizes  his  message  as  follows:  — 

"Do  not  care  for  doctrines,  do  not  care  for  dogmas  or  sects 
or  churches  or  temples:  they  count  for  little  compared  with 
the  essence  of  existence  in  each  man  which  is  his  spirituality, 
and  the  more  this  is  developed  in  man  the  more  powerful 
he  is  for  good.  Earn  that  first,  acquire  that,  and  criticise 
no  one,  for  all  doctrines  and  creeds  have  some  good  in  them. 
1  Max  Muller,  op.  cit.,  pp.  55  and  57. 
179 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Show  by  your  lives  that  religion  does  not  mean  words, 
or  names,  or  sects,  but  that  it  means  spiritual  realization. 
Only  those  can  understand  who  have  felt.  Only  those  who 
have  attained  to  spirituality  can  communicate  it  to  others, 
can  be  great  teachers  of  mankind.  They  alone  are  the  powers 
of  light."  1 

When  Ramakrishna  died  he  left  a  little  group  of  young  men 
who  had  sat  at  his  feet  and  drunk  in  his  message.  Among  these 
was  Vivekananda,  a  man  almost  as  remarkable  as  his  master. 
Under  his  leadership  these  young  men  formed  an  Order  of 
Sannyasins  and  Brahmacharins  whose  aim  it  was  —  and  is  — 
to  redeem  India  through  preaching  and  practicing  the  message 
of  their  dead  Teacher.  They  accepted  their  master's  teaching 
that  all  religions  are  equally  true  and  lead  ultimately  to  the 
same  goal;  but  they  drew  from  this  premise  the  conclusion 
that  for  every  people  its  own  religion  is  best,  inasmuch  as  no 
form  of  symbolism  can  ever  have  so  much  meaning  to  a  man 
as  that  in  which  he  has  been  brought  up.  They  hold,  moreover 
(whether  consistently  or  not),  that  this  ultimate  truth  under- 
lying every  religion  is  the  Vedanta  philosophy  in  its  "  Advaita" 
or  monistic  form.  From  both  of  these  premises  it  follows,  obvi- 
ously enough,  that  the  best  religion  for  India  is  Hinduism.  This 
being  the  case,  the  aim  of  the  Order  is  naturally  twofold:  (i)  to 
defend  and  resuscitate  Hinduism  and  to  show  forth  what  they 
regard  the  true  spiritual  meaning  of  its  various  forms;  and  (2) 
to  apply  the  spirit  of  the  Vedanta  teaching  that  all  men  are 
ultimately  one  in  God,  by  ministering  to  every  kind  of  need 
and  responding  to  every  call  for  helpfulness. 

How  far  the  Order  would  have  developed  the  practical  and 
actively  philanthropic  side  of  this  work  had  Ramakrishna  lived 
on  indefinitely  to  guide  its  development  is  questionable.  We 
have  already  seen  that  he  regarded  "  works ' '  somewhat  askance, 
as  tending  to  distract  one  from  realization  of  God,  which  is 
the  chief  goal.  To  his  friend  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  who  as 
the  head  of  the  Progressive  Brahmo  Samaj  was  doing  so  much 
active  philanthropic  and  social  work,  he  said :  "You  talk  against 
child-marriage  and  the  caste  system,  about  female  emancipa- 
tion and  female  education.  I  say  one  thing  is  needful,  —  the 
1  My  Master  (Almora,  Prabuddha  Bharata  Press,  1903),  p.  35- 
180 


REFORxM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

realization  of  God  and  devotion  to  Him.  First  realize  God,  and 
all  other  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  ^ 

Whatever  would  have  been  Ramakrishna's  position  had  his 
life  been  prolonged,  certain  it  is  that  the  policy  of  the  Order 
was  very  notably  changed  when  Vivekananda,  the  successor  of 
the  founder,  returned  from  his  long  trip  in  Europe  and  America, 
where  he  had  been  able  to  study  at  first  hand  the  systematic 
philanthropy  through  which  the  spirit  of  Christ  gets  its  partial 
expression.  And  it  was,  perhaps,  as  a  result  of  these  observa- 
tions in  the  West  that  Vivekananda  introduced  into  the  Order 
a  point  of  view  reminiscent  quite  as  much  of  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen  as  of  Ramakrishna.  At  any  rate,  since  the  time  of  Vive- 
kananda's  return  to  India,  the  devotional  and  the  practical 
aims  of  the  Order  have  gone  on  hand  in  hand. 

The  Society  has  carried  on  this  double  enterprise  with  very 
genuine  devotion  up  to  this  day.  It  possesses  some  seven  mon- 
asteries in  different  parts  of  India,  the  mother  chapter  being  at 
Belur,  a  few  miles  up  the  river  from  Calcutta.  All  of  these 
monasteries  are  centers  of  social  and  charitable  work  except  one 
which  is  located  up  among  the  foothills  of  the  Himalayas, - 
and  which  is  especially  devoted  to  meditation  on  the  Advaita 
Vedanta.  It  is,  in  short,  a  hermitage  where  members  may  re- 
tire for  a  while  and  refresh  their  souls  in  contemplation.  All 
the  other  monasteries  of  the  Order  are  situated  at  or  near  im- 
portant centers  where  their  influence  may  be  felt  by  India's 
masses:  for  its  spirit  is  strikingly  like  that  which  dominated  St. 
Francis  and  the  early  Franciscans .^  To  make  their  social  and 
charitable  work  more  efficient  and  to  make  easier  the  coopera- 
tion of  laymen,  the  Order  founded  the  "Ramakrishna  Mission," 
which  was  legally  incorporated  in  1909,  the  Trustees  of  the 
Monastery  at  Belur  being  made  ex-officio  the  Trustees  of  the 
new  institution.  In  addition  to  the  monasteries,  which,  as  I 
have  said,  are  centers  of  charitable  work,  the  Ramakrishna 
Mission  has  six  hospitals,  or  centers  of  medical  relief,  one 

1  The  Gospel  of  Ramakrishna,  p.  173. 

*  At  Mayavati,  fifty  miles  northeast  of  Almora  and  sixt>--three  miles  from 
the  nearest  railroad  station.   It  is  at  an  altitude  of  6800  feet  above  sea  level. 

'  I  have  met  several  members  of  the  Order  in  different  parts  of  India, 
and  can  testify  to  the  splendid  devotion  and  unstinted  love  for  all  which 
these  noble  men  and  women  possess. 

181 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

orphanage,  and  three  schools  (one  of  them  being  for  girls  and 
women).  There  is  a  pitiful  call  for  this  work,  and  the  Mission 
has  responded  with  the  most  complete  devotion,  the  only  limit 
to  this  service  being  its  limited  supply  of  funds.  Between  July, 
191 1,  and  December,  1912,  the  Ramakrishna  Mission  Home  of 
Service  in  Benares  ministered  to  some  14,178  persons,  who  were 
either  sick  or  very  old  or  starving;  while  the  Ramakrishna  Hos- 
pital at  Brindaban  during  the  year  1912  treated  24,382  patients. 
The  motto  of  the  Order  is  "Work  is  Worship." 

The  more  intellectual  side  of  the  work  is  conducted  by  pub- 
lic sermons  or  addresses,  by  pamphlets,  books,  and  periodicals.^ 
Nor  has  the  attempt  of  the  Order  to  disseminate  its  truths  been 
confined  to  India.  Whether  consistently  or  not  with  the  funda- 
mental proposition  of  their  Master,  that  every  religion  is  true 
and  for  each  people  its  own  religion  is  the  best,  the  followers  of 
Ramakrishna  have  found  the  missionary  spirit  in  their  own 
hearts  so  strong  that  they  have  been  carried  beyond  the  seas, 
and  not  only  have  several  of  their  "swamis"  made  preaching 
tours  through  Europe,  they  have  also  founded  some  five  per- 
manent centers  of  missionary  work  in  the  United  States  — 
namely,  at  New  York,  Pittsburg,  San  Francisco,  Boston,  and 
Washington.  In  the  "foreign  field,"  as  we  should  call  it,  it  is 
of  course  only  the  Advaita  Vedanta  that  is  taught;  but  for 
India  the  Ramakrishna  Order  regards  the  external  forms  of 
Hinduism  as  useful  symbols  to  lead  the  less  intelligent  up  to 
the  higher  vision.  Hence  it  does  not  oppose  polytheism,  but 
even  regards  it  as  having  a  real  truth.  Swami  Vivekananda,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  a  devout  worshiper  of  Shiva  and  Kali,  and 
even  taught  his  European  disciple  Miss  Noble  ("Sister  Nive- 
dita")  to  do  puja  to  them.  And  in  imitation  of  his  example  the 
Order  to-day  approves  of  an  intelligent  use  of  the  images  of  the 
gods,  as  an  aid  to  worship,^  encourages  pilgrimage,  and  to  a 

1  The  official  publication  of  the  Order  is  the  Prabuddha  Bharata,  pub- 
lished monthly  at  Mayavati  in  the  Himalayas. 

*  In  discussing  the  use  of  idols  Ramakrishna  said:  "We  see  little  girls 
with  their  dolls.  How  long  do  they  play  with  them?  So  long  as  they  are  not 
married.  After  marriage  they  put  away  those  dolls.  Similarly,  one  needs 
images  and  symbols  so  long  as  God  is  not  realized  in  His  true  form.  It  is 
God  Himself  who  has  provided  these  various  forms  of  worship.  The  Master 
of  the  universe  has  done  all  this  to  suit  different  men  in  different  stages  of 

182 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

certain  extent  even  defends  an  ideal  form  of  the  caste  system. 
In  short,  it  thoroughly  beheves  in  Hinduism.  But  the  Hindu- 
ism it  longs  to  see  is  an  intelligent  and  spiritual  Hinduism. 
No  one  has  made  more  fun  of  the  silly  and  cruel  barriers  and 
superstitions  of  caste  than  Vivekananda  and  his  disciples  — 
"Don't  touchism"  and  "taking  religion  into  the  kitchen"  he 
used  to  call  these  things.  It  is  the  spirit  back  of  the  form  that 
these  monks  and  workers  are  seeking.  And  true  to  their  basal 
thought  they  protest  also  against  the  modern  tendency  to  put 
the  political  before  the  spiritual.^  A  spiritual  nationalism  they 
would  revive  in  India,  but  not  the  political  sort  preached  by  the 
Arya  Samaj.  And  it  is  this  ideal  of  a  national  spiritual  culture 
which  determines  their  ideal  of  education  for  India  as  a  whole. 
"  Swami  Vivekananda's  idea  was  that  education  in  India  must 
have  its  foothold  secure  on  what  history  has  transmitted  to  us 
as  our  ancient  Indo-Ar>'an  culture.  In  this  culture  the  supreme 
end  is  the  Vedic  goal  of  spirituality,  and  from  that  standpoint 

spiritual  gro'ftth  and  knowledge."  {Gospel  of  Ramakrishna,  p.  64.)  In  this 
connection  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  common  Indian  tendency 
toward  guru-worship,  especially  toward  the  worship  of  dead  gurus,  is  very 
strong  within  the  Order  of  Ramakrishna.  Both  Ramakrishna  and  Vive- 
kananda are  well  on  the  way  to  deification.  The  eightieth  anniversary'  of 
the  birth  of  the  former  was  recently  celebrated  at  Belur  and  all  the  centers 
with  ceremonies  of  "worship,"  and  in  fact  his  picture  is  "worshiped  "  every 
day  at  the  Belur  Math.  A  life-size  statue  of  \'ivekananda  also,  together  with 
his  "sacred  ashes,  "  is  kept  at  Belur  "  in  his  samadhi  Temple,"  and  special 
reverence  is  paid  there  to  him  on  each  anniversary  of  his  birth.  See  the 
Prabuddha  Bharatu  for  February-,  March,  and  April,  1915. 

1  Cf.  the  Prabuddha  Bharata  for  June,  1914,  pp.  102-08.  Cf.  also  the 
following  from  the  same  periodical:  "Alas,  that  educated  Indians  should  still 
find  it  more  acceptable  to  cling  to  the  role  of  a  beggar  in  politics  than  to 
pursue  the  manlier  course  of  building  up  from  within  the  real  national  life 
of  India!  The  mistaken  choice  of  a  political  basis  for  that  life  has  not  only 
robbed  the  national  mind  of  its  manly  grace,  but  has  kept  it  too  long  astray 
from  the  path  of  all  real  progress.  ...  It  is  sheer  ignorance  which  makes 
them  [the  educated  Indians]  covetous  of  the  political  nationalism  of  Europe. 
They  do  not  dive  deep  enough  into  the  philosophy  of  life  or  into  Indian  his- 
tory- to  see  that  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  nation  it  is  possible  to  adopt  a  higher 
collective  life  than  what  is  implied  in  the  political  nationalism  of  Europe." 
{Prabuddha  Bharata  for  November,  1914,  p.  216).  "They  do  not  pause  to 
remember  that  India  can  have  no  scheme  of  life,  individual  or  collective, 
unless  it  be  created  and  governed  by  religion.  .  .  .  Religion  requires  to  be 
preached,  therefore,  to  modern  India  in  its  new  significance  as  a  nation- 
builder.  We  must  make  educated  Indians  admit  and  respect  its  superior 
claims  in  that  respect,  and  the  claims  of  politics  must  give  way."  (From  the 
January,  1915,  number,  pp.  3  and  4.) 

183 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

the  significance  and  value  of  all  the  departments  of  knowledge 
and  art  are  estimated.  .  .  .  Our  ancient  culture  refuses  to  be 
dealt  with  in  the  way  the  modern  educationists  strive  to  do  it. 
It  is  a  sort  of  living  organism,  this  culture,  and  no  mechanical 
process  of  adding  and  subtracting  will  apply  here.  Within  its 
integrity  all  human  ends  and  ideals,  ancient  or  modern,  must 
have  to  enter  as  terms  of  the  organic  interrelation  through 
which  the  supreme  spiritual  end  fulfills  itself.  Unless  our  an- 
cient culture  is  restored  to  this  sort  of  organic  existence,  no 
element  of  any  foreign  culture  can  be  properly  absorbed  by 
it."i 

The  members  of  the  Order  of  Ramakrishna  are  not  the  only 
Indians  who  cherish  these  beliefs  and  these  ideals.  Some  of  the 
more  able  Indian  educators  outside  the  Order,  and  quite  un- 
connected with  it,  are  working  with  the  same  end  in  view.  In 
fact,  nowhere  else  does  the  attempt  to  rationalize  and  resusci- 
tate Hinduism  seem  so  promising  as  at  the  Central  Hindu  Col- 
lege in  Benares.  In  this  school  and  college  (for  it  is  both)  boys 
and  young  men  are  given  a  sound  general  education  and  at  the 
same  time  are  systematically  instructed,  year  after  year,  in  the 
real  inner  meaning  of  the  Hindu  religion  as  their  instructors 
view  it.  How  far  the  rationalized  Hinduism  thus  taught  is  his- 
torically justified  need  not  trouble  us;  for  it  does  not  trouble 
either  the  students  or  their  teachers.  The  aim  of  the  teaching  is 
not  the  academic  one  of  painting  an  historical  picture,  but  the 
more  vital  one  of  evolving  out  of  Hindu  beliefs  and  customs  a 
religion  and  morality  which  shall  combine  the  enormous  pres- 
tige and  emotional  value  which  a  hoary  tradition  gives,  with 
intelligent  selection,  modern,  scientific  knowledge,  and  spiritual 
insight.  As  will  be  seen,  this  is  no  easy  task,  and  the  success  of 
the  undertaking  must  depend  upon  the  wisdom  of  the  teacher. 
In  this  respect  the  Central  Hindu  College  is  most  fortunate  in 

*  The  First  General  Report  of  the  Ramakrishna  Mission  [Belur,  1913].  P- 
27.  Cf.  Vivekananda's  address  on  "The  True  Method  of  Social  Reform": 
"To  the  reformers  I  will  point  out  that  I  am  a  greater  reformer  than  any  one 
of  them.  They  want  to  reform  only  little  bits.  I  want  root  and  branch 
reform.  Where  we  differ  is  exactly  in  the  method.  Theirs  is  the  method  of 
destruction,  mine  is  that  of  construction.  I  do  not  believe  in  reform:  I 
believe  in  growth."  (Speeches  and  Writings,  Madras,  p.  619).  See  also  some 
very  sensible  remarks  on  female  education  in  the  Prabuddha  Bharata  for 
November,  19 14. 

184 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

having  a  man  like  Babu  Bhagavan  Das  to  mould  the  philo- 
sophical and  religious  views  of  the  young  men  under  his  charge. 
It  is  his  constant  endeavor  to  make  his  students  dissatisfied 
with  a  merely  slavish  following  of  Hindu  customs,  and  to  pierce 
beyond  the  external  form  and  ask  in  every  case  the  reason  why; 
and  then,  having  discovered  the  ratwnale  of  each  ruling  custom, 
to  apply  it  intelligently  to  the  conduct  of  modern  life. 

The  Central  Hindu  College  is  at  present  a  part  of  the  Alla- 
habad University.  But  it  will  probably  soon  be  changed  into 
the  Hindu  University  of  Benares;  for  which  large  funds  are 
coming  in  from  generous  Hindus  all  over  India.  The  Maharaja 
of  Benares  has  given  a  large  tract  of  land  for  the  site  of  the 
University,  at  Ramnagar  on  the  Ganges,  just  outside  of  Be- 
nares; and  Sir  Harcourt  Butler,  the  Education  Member  of  the 
Indian  Government,  has  introduced  a  bill  into  the  Viceroy's 
Legislative  Council,  granting  a  charter  to  the  proposed  uni- 
versity'. "The  main  features  of  this  University',"  according  to 
Sir  Harcourt  Butler,  "which  distinguish  it  from  the  existing 
universities  will  be  first  that  it  will  be  a  teaching  and  residen- 
tial university  [not  merely  one  that  conducts  examinations 
and  directs  the  work  of  its  colleges,  as  is  the  case  with  the  pres- 
ent universities  of  India];  secondly,  that  while  it  will  be  open 
to  all  castes  and  creeds  it  will  insist  upon  religious  instruction 
for  the  Hindu  students ;  and  thirdly,  that  it  will  be  conducted 
and  managed  by  the  Hindu  community  and  almost  entirely 
by  non-ofificials."  ^  The  university,  moreover,  is  to  be  open 
not  only  to  all  castes  and  creeds  but  to  both  sexes.  And  while 
one  clause  of  its  charter  provides  that  Hindu  theology  and 
religion  shall  be  required  subjects  for  Hindu  students,  accord- 
ing to  another  clause  Jainism  and  Sikhism  are  to  be  taught  to 
Jaina  and  Sikh  students  if  funds  are  subscribed  for  that  pur- 
pose by  those  religious  communities. 

In  other  parts  of  India  beside  Benares  other  individuals  are 
working  at  the  same  great  problem  of  religious  education. 
One  of  these  is  the  poet,  Rabindranath  Tagore.  Many  West- 
erners would  probably  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  prin- 
cipal occupation  of  the  man  who  won  the  Nobel  Prize  is 
not  \\Titing  poetry  but  running  a  school.  The  great  need  of 
*  Reported  in  The  Indian  Social  Reformer  for  March  28,  19 15. 
185 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

his  country,  as  he  sees  it,  he  told  me,  is  the  achievement  of 
inner  and  social  freedom ;  and  the  one  hope  for  the  attainment 
of  this  goal  is  the  development  of  a  greater  spiritual  insight 
among  the  leaders  of  thought  and  an  extension  of  this  down- 
ward through  them  to  all  ranks  of  society.  In  other  words, 
the  immediate  problem  is  the  education  of  the  right  kind  of 
leaders.  It  is  an  enormous  task,  and  to  do  his  share  in  it  he  has 
founded  a  school  for  boys  from  five  to  eighteen  years  of  age. 
He  lectures  to  the  older  boys  on  religion  and  philosophy,  try- 
ing to  communicate  to  them  the  spirit  of  the  Upanishads.  His 
assistant  teachers  he  has  educated  himself,  and  the  annual 
deficit  of  the  school  he  pays  out  of  his  own  funds. ^  At  first 
his  opposition  to  caste  made  it  difficult  for  him  to  get  students, 
but  now  he  has  about  two  hundred  of  them  (mostly  Brahmins) 
and  could  get  more  if  he  could  afford  to  enlarge  his  institution. 
The  school  is  situated  in  the  country  ^  at  some  distance  from 
Calcutta,  and  only  boarders  are  taken;  for  his  aim  is  not  to 
teach  courses,  but  to  mould  character,  and  so  he  insists  on 
having  the  opportunity  of  influencing  his  boys  twenty-four 
hours  in  the  day.  The  classes  are  all  held  out  of  doors,  under 
the  trees,  and  the  boys  are  very  happy,  entering  into  the  spirit 
of  the  school  and  being  in  fact  a  self-governing  body.  It  is  to 
centers  like  this  that  Tagore  looks  for  the  ultimate  regeneration 
of  India. 

1  have  named  this  chapter  "Reform  Movements  within  Hin- 
duism"; but  I  should  at  least  mention,  before  closing  it,  that 
great  new  tendency  within  Hinduism  for  defense  as  well  as  re- 
form. The  Ramakrishna  Mission,  of  course,  aims  at  both,  as 
does  also  the  Ar>'a  Samaj ,  which  we  shall  study  in  the  next  chap- 
ter. In  fact  most  of  the  modern  movements  of  Hinduism  blend 
both  these  aims,  though  with  varying  emphasis.  And  many  of 
the  religious  tendencies  which  are  rousing  the  interests  of  thou- 
sands of  Hindus  have  for  their  chief  purpose  the  revival  of  the 
old  religion  rather  than  its  reform.   Most  Westerners  would  be 

^  According  to  Basanta  Koomer  Roy,  "  Tagore  has  given  the  Nobel  Prize 
money  to  the  school,  and  the  royalties  on  his  books  have  been  consecrated 
for  the  same  purpose."  {Rabindranath  Tagore,  the  Man  and  His  Poetry 
[New  York,  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  1915],?.  175.) 

2  At  Bolepore. 

186 


REFORxM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

astonished  to  see  the  intense  interest  in  religious  topics,  the 
avidity  in  seizing  upon  new  ideas,  —  or  new  forms  of  old  ideas,  — 
in  short,  the  inner  and  spiritual  commotion  with  which  India 
to-day  is  seething.  The  land  teems  with  religious  and  social 
conferences  and  congresses.  In  nearly  all  the  sub-sects  into 
which  Hinduism  is  divided  there  are  small  groups  of  earnest 
men  who  are  endeavoring  to  revivify  the  old  teachings  and 
customs;  and  many  of  the  castes  have  yearly  conferences  in 
which  unity,  defense,  and  sometimes  reform  are  eagerly  dis- 
cussed. The  spirit  of  Nationalism  has  awakened,  and  with 
a  large  number  it  has  been  identified  with  the  defense  of  the 
national  religion.  Hinduism  is  becoming,  for  the  first  time  in 
its  histor\',  thoroughly  self-conscious.^ 

In  our  last  chapter  we  saw  that  Hinduism  was  decaying. 
And  so  in  one  sense  it  is.  Its  idolatry,  its  polytheism,  its 
shradda  rites,  its  externalism  cannot  long  stand  before  the 
attacks  of  modern  knowledge.  Many  of  the  organizations  re- 
ferred to  above,  to  be  sure,  aim  at  the  defense  of  just  these 
ancient  customs  and  beliefs;  but  the  very  attempt  to  discuss 
these  matters  means  the  introduction  of  a  certain  amount  of 
reason,  and  reason  will  inevitably  make  the  baser  and  more 
superstitious  elements  of  Hinduism  increasingly  unacceptable 
to  intelligent  Indians.^  Very  suggestive  in  this  connection  is 

'  It  may  be  in  part  due  to  this  new  life  within  Hinduism  that,  whereas  in 
the  decade  1891-1901,  its  numbers  decreased  by  .28  per  cent,  in  the  decade 
1901-11  they  increased  at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent.  Typical  of  the  new  spirit 
and  the  growing  self-conscious  unity  of  Hinduism  was  the  formation,  in 
1902,  of  the  Bharata  Dharma  Mahamandala.an  organization  in  which  united 
various  consers-ative  Hindu  societies.  In  the  first  eight  years  of  its  existence 
it  gained  recognition  as  representative  of  the  whole  Hindu  community  from 
the  various  heads  of  the  chief  Hindu  sects  and  orders.  "Some  600  branches 
had  been  opened,  and  about  400  institutions  had  been  affiliated.  Nearly 
200  preachers  were  employed;  a  considerable  literature  had  been  put  into 
circulation;  and  large  sums  of  money  had  been  subscribed."  (Farquhar, 
Modern  Religious  Movements,  p.  319.) 

*  In  this  connection  the  following  extract  from  an  account  of  a  confer- 
ence of  old-fashioned  Brahmins  at  Beerbhoom,  in  April,  1915,  will  be  found 
illuminating  as  well  as  typical.  "The  total  number  of  the  assembly  was 
more  than  2,000.  Proceedings  began  with  Vedic  hymns  and  stotras  recited 
by  a  band  of  young  Brahmacharis.  Questions  were  then  discussed  relat- 
ing to  practical  measures  for  the  prevention  of  compulsory  dowries;  for 
the  Shastric  education  of  Brahmin  boys  and  priests,  for  the  preservation 
of  Hindu  institutions,  including  the  maintenance  of  temples,  excavation 
of  tanks,  and  preservation  of  cows  and  pasturage;  greater  dissemination  of 

187 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

the  stand  recently  taken  by  that  pillar  of  Hindu  conservatism 
and  orthodoxy,  Sir  Subrahmanya  Iyer.  •  In  spite  of  his  love 
for  the  ancient  Dharma  —  or  rather,  perhaps,  because  of  it  — 
he  came  out  in  January  of  this  year  with  an  article  on  the  "New 
Hinduism"  in  which  he  says:  "The  conditions  of  Hindu  soci- 
ety to-day  are,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  such  as  to  make  the  hope 
of  the  future  lie  not  in  any  tinkering  with  this  and  that  part 
of  the  existing  structure  in  its  present  dilapidated  state,  but 
in  removing  with  an  unsparing  hand  the  poisonous  weedy 
growth  and  the  entire  debris  under  which  lie  buried  the  pri- 
meval foundations  of  Hinduism,  and  upon  them  to  erect  a 
new  and  simpler  edifice  of  just  such  proportions  and  utility  as 
are  needed  for  our  present  demands."  Among  the  "poison- 
ous growths"  which  he  would  remove  he  includes  idol  wor- 
ship, child  marriage,  and  the  caste  system.  The  really  sacred 
scriptures  of  Hinduism  he  would  have  clearly  marked  off  from 
the  many  valueless  writings  that  lay  claim  to  this  title,  and 
the  more  important  of  these  sacred  books  he  would  put,  in 
English  translation,  within  the  reach  of  all  Hindus.  And  he 
would  call  Hinduism  back  from  its  many  gods  and  their  images 
to  the  universal  recognition  of  the  one  Absolute  and  Un- 
manifested  Brahman,  and  to  the  worship  of  the  Manifested 
Brahman  and  of  Him  alone. ^ 

It  is  probable  that  in  spite  of  Sir  Subrahmanya  and  his  more 
radical  juniors,  the  ancient  customs  and  beliefs  will  keep  their 
hold  for  centuries  over  the  masses  of  ignorant  Hindus.  But, 
as  every  year  makes  more  evident,  the  steadily  growing  num- 
bers of  the  educated  cannot  be  satisfied  with  them  indefinitely. 
Does  this  mean  that  Hinduism  is  doomed?  The  answer  to  this 
question  will  depend  largely  on  the  success  of  reform  move- 
Hindu  ideas  of  religion  and  morality  among  Brahmins;  preparation  of  re- 
ligious textbooks  for  Hindu  students,  and  starting  students'  boarding 
houses  under  the  supervision  and  control  of  Brahmin  Sabhas.  On  both 
days  Brahmins  from  distant  parts  of  Beerbhoom  and  the  adjoining  districts 
came  in  on  foot  in  ver>'  large  numbers  in  spite  of  the  extreme  heat,  and  mani- 
fested intense  enthusiasm  and  religious  fervor.  The  people  of  the  locality 
showed  great  veneration  for  the  assembly,  and  immediately  after  the  close 
of  each  sitting  collected  the  dust  of  the  feet  of  the  Brahmins  left  on  the 
sheets  covering  the  ground,  rushing  in  hundreds  into  the  pandal."  {The 
Indian  Social  Reformer  for  April  25,  191 5.) 

^  See  The  Indian  Social  Reformer  for  February  7  and  14,  191 5. 

188 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  WITHIN  HINDUISM 

merits  such  as  those  studied  in  this  and  the  following  chapter. 
If  the  reforms  fail,  we  may  expect  intelligent  Hindus  to  accept 
in  increasing  numbers  a  rationalized  Christianity  —  or  to  fall 
in  ever-growing  throngs  into  a  flippant  agnosticism.  But  it  is 
possible  that  just  as  a  more  liberal  and  more  human  Chris- 
tianity is  growing  out  of  scholasticism  and  Calvinism,  so  a  new 
and  purified  Hinduism  may  develop  out  of  what  was  best  in 
the  ancient  Dharma.  The  outcome  is  uncertain,  but  the  prob- 
lem for  the  enlightened  is  plain.  It  is  a  question  of  national 
spiritual  education.  And  the  one  feature  in  the  present  situa- 
tion that  seems  really  promising  from  the  Hindu  standpoint  is 
the  fact,  already  alluded  to,  that  Hinduism  —  yes,  that  India 
—  is  at  last  gradually  becoming  conscious  of  itself.  To  increase 
this  self-consciousness  and  to  raise  aloft  a  purified  but  truly 
Indian  ideal  is  the  aim  and  task  of  the  reformers. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  BRAHMO  SAMAJ  AND  THE  ARYA  SAMAJ 

OF  all  the  Indian  reform  movements  the  one  best  known  in 
the  West,  and  in  fact  the  only  one  well  known  in  the 
West,  is  the  Brahmo  Samaj.^  Its  leaders  have  been  consider- 
ably influenced  by  Western  ideas,  and  (partly  in  consequence) 
the  West  has  been  considerably  interested  in  their  work. 
Hence  in  Western  discussions  of  contemporary  religious  con- 
ditions in  India  the  Brahmo  Samaj  usually  assumes  an  im- 
portance out  of  all  proportion  to  its  membership  and  actual 
influence  in  India.  Yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  influence 
has  been  remarkable  considering  the  paucity  of  its  members. 
It  was  founded  in  1828  ^  by  Ram  Mohun  Roy,  a  learned  and 
spiritual  Bengalee,  who  by  a  prolonged  study  of  Hinduism, 
Mohammedanism,  and  Christianity  became  convinced  that 
the  essential  truth  for  which  each  stands  is  the  same  truth,  and 
that  on  this  common  foundation  a  Universal  Theistic  Church 
might  be  erected,  in  which  all  men  might  ultimately  find  mem- 
bership. Ram  Mohun  Roy  was  not  only  a  scholarly  and  re- 
ligious man;  he  was  a  man  of  the  world  and  had  wide-awake 
human  interests  and  exhibited  considerable  practical  effi- 
ciency. The  primal  impulse  in  the  Indian  movement  for  social 
reform  which  is  so  widespread  to-day  came  largely  from  him. 
It  was  to  a  great  extent  through  his  efforts  that  widow-burn- 
ing was  given  up  and  that  modern  education  was  extended 
throughout  Bengal.  A  little  over  two  years  after  the  found- 
ing of  the  Samaj,  Ram  Mohun  Roy  went  to  England  for  a 
visit  —  as  he  planned;  but  while  there  he  was  taken  ill,  and 
died  in  September,  1833. 

For  some   years  after  the  death  of  its  founder  the  Samaj 

'  "The  Church  of  God." 

*  It  was  not  until  1830  that  it  received  its  present  name  and  had  a  church 
building  of  its  own.  In  1828  it  had  the  name  "Brahmo  Sabha"  and  its 
meetings  were  held  in  a  rented  house. 

190 


BRA  HMO    SAM  A  J   AND   ARYA   SAM  A  J 

suffered  a  considerable  relapse.  It  was  kept  alive  during 
these  lean  years  chiefly  by  the  backing  of  Prince  Dwarakanath 
Tagore,  of  Calcutta,  until  in  1841  fresh  spiritual  enthusiasm 
was  brought  into  it  by  Tagore's  son,  Devendranath  Tagore, 
of  whom  mention  has  several  times  been  made  in  previous 
chapters.  He  had  passed  through  a  marked  religious  experi- 
ence three  years  before,  as  a  result  of  his  first  reading  of 
the  Upanishads,  and  had  founded  a  theistic  and  anti-idola- 
trous society  of  his  own,  which  eventually  merged  with  the 
Brahmo  Samaj.  From  the  time  this  young  man  joined  the 
Samaj,  with  his  group  of  enthusiastic  followers,  he  became  its 
spiritual  head  and  soon  also  the  sole  trustee  of  its  property, 
and  for  years  thereafter  his  will  was  the  governing  power  of 
the  societ>'.  His  ideal  was  that  the  Samaj  should  be  essen- 
tially Hindu,  —  though  strictly  monotheistic  and  opposed  to 
idolatry,  —  and  that  it  should  be  first  of  all  a  religious  body, 
with  social  reform  as  only  a  very  secondary-  aim.  It  was  to 
feed  the  spiritual  life  and  to  feed  it  with  the  food  to  be  derived 
from  the  best  of  the  Indian  religious  tradition.  "The  Jewish 
and  its  offshoot  the  Christian  conceptions  of  God,  heaven, 
and  salvation  seemed  to  him  to  be  so  anthropomorphic  and 
shallow  that  he  passed  them  by  with  silent  contempt,  and  de- 
voutly turned  to  the  Hindu  conception  of  God  as  immanent 
in  matter  and  mind.  His  solemn  conviction  was  that  in  mat- 
ters spiritual  the  Hindus  had  no  need  to  turn  to  the  West; 
rather  the  West  had  much  to  learn  from  the  East."  ^ 

Early  in  Tagore's  leadership  a  controversy  arose  between 
some  of  the  members  of  the  Samaj  and  certain  Christian  mis- 
sionaries, during  the  course  of  which  the  former  asserted  that 
the  religion  of  the  Samaj  was  based  upon  the  Vedas  and  that 
the  Vedas  were  infallible.  This  indeed  seems  at  first  to  have 
been  Tagore's  opinion.  The  more  rationalistic  members  of  the 
Samaj,  however,  had  decided  doubts  on  this  point,  and  as  a 
consequence  a  controversy  arose  on  the  question  of  infallibil- 
ity. One  of  the  most  interesting  things  about  this  controversy 
is  that  it  transpired  that  neither  party  had  ever  read  more  than 
a  small  part  of  the  Vedas  or  had  any  clear  idea  what  they  con- 
tained, and  that  Tagore,  with  his  usual  patient  good  sense, 
^  Shivanath  Shastri,  History  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  vol.  I,  p.  188. 
191 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

kept  an  open  mind  on  the  question  and  sent  four  young  mem- 
bers of  the  Samaj  to  Benares  to  study  the  Vedas  with  com- 
petent teachers.  After  two  years  the  emissaries  returned ;  and 
when  Tagore  had  learned  from  them  what  the  Vedas  really 
taught,  and  had  verified  their  report  by  going  to  Benares  him- 
self and  holding  a  long  interview  with  the  most  learned  pun- 
dits, the  doctrine  of  the  infaUibility  of  the  Vedas  was  definitely 
given  up.  This,  however,  did  not  mean  that  the  Samaj  should 
cease  to  be  Hindu,  or  that  the  belief  in  the  general  inspiration 
of  the  Vedas  and  especially  of  the  Upanishads  should  be  dis- 
carded. The  Upanishads  were  still  held  to  be  inspired  in  part, 
with  a  human  element  intermingled ;  —  the  extreme  monistic 
passages  in  the  tone  of  Shankara's  philosophy  being  regarded 
as  emphatically  not  inspired.  For  the  devotional  needs  of  the 
society  Tagore,  therefore,  compiled  a  kind  of  eclectic  scripture 
from  various  theistic  passages  in  the  Upanishads,  and  called  it 
the  "Brahma  Dharma"  ^  —  a  compilation  which  the  Samaj 
to-day  regards  as  one  of  his  greatest  achievements. 

In  1857  a  young  man  joined  the  Samaj  who  was  destined  to 
play  a  great  role  in  its  history,  namely,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen. 
Mr.  Sen,  —  or  as  he  is  more  commonly  known,  Keshub,  — 
though  brought  up  in  a  deeply  religious  Brahmin  family,  was 
considerably  influenced  by  Christianity,  and  his  study  for 
years  after  joining  the  Samaj  increased  his  enthusiastic  ad- 
miration for  Jesus.  Devendranath  Tagore  soon  recognized 
his  earnestness  and  religious  zeal,  and  his  ability  as  a  leader 
and  inspirer  of  men,  and  gave  him  a  large  share  in  directing 
the  activities  of  the  Samaj.  Keshub  brought  into  the  society  a 
great  enthusiasm  for  reform  and  a  kind  of  evangelical  religious 
spirit  which  kindled  the  hearts  of  many  young  men  to  devotion 
and  sacrifice  for  the  cause  of  liberal  and  inward  religion.  Ta- 
gore cooperated  with  his  young  follower  most  heartily;  edu- 
cational movements  were  started,  missionaries  and  wandering 
preachers  were  sent  to  various  parts  of  Bengal  and  even  to 
the  Punjab,  Bombay, ^  and  Madras,  and  branch  societies  were 

^  See  his  own  interesting  account  of  this  in  his  autobiography 

^  The  branch  of  the  Samaj  founded  under  Sen's  influence  in  Bombay  in 

1867  became  the  Prarthna  Samaj,  which  has  done  such  excellent  work  for 

the  outcastes. 

192 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

founded  in  many  centers.  But  before  many  years  it  became 
evident  that  the  conservative  and  radical  elements  in  the 
Samaj  could  not  permanently  pull  together.  The  older  men 
wished  to  keep  "Brahmanism"  a  branch  of  Hinduism,  and 
looked  askance  at  Keshub's  Christian  leanings  and  especially 
at  his  reforming  ideals;  while  the  followers  of  Keshub  —  al- 
most all  young  men  under  twenty-five  —  were  eager  to  make 
Brahmanism  a  universal  religion  and  the  Samaj  a  center  of 
radical  social  reforms.  The  storm  finally  broke  in  1864,  when 
the  most  radical  of  the  younger  men  demanded  that  the  Samaj 
place  itself  squarely  against  the  caste  system  by  discharging 
from  the  office  of  minister  all  those  who  still  retained  the 
Brahmanical  triple  cord.  The  older  men  accepted  the  issue 
and  forced  Tagore  to  choose  between  radicalism  and  conserva- 
tism. His  heart  seems  to  have  been  with  Keshub,  but  he 
thought  that  duty  pointed  the  other  way,  so  he  stood  by  the 
older  men.  Keshub  and  his  followers  remained  nominally 
within  the  Samaj  till  1867,  when  they  went  out  and  founded  a 
society  of  their  own,  called  the  "Brahmo  Samaj  of  India"  — 
the  older  branch  from  now  on  being  distinguished  by  the  title 
the  "  Adi  [or  Original]  Brahmo  Samaj."  ^  It  was  characteristic 
of  the  young  Bengalee  enthusiasts  who  founded  the  new  Samaj 
that  in  their  meeting  for  organization  none  of  the  mundane 
subjects  which  usually  take  up  men's  thoughts  at  such  a  time 
were  considered.  They  passed  many  resolutions,  but  they 
quite  forgot  to  elect  officers.  "Thus,"  as  Shivanath  Shastri 
rather  humorously  observes,  "the  Brahmo  Samaj  of  India  was 
ushered  into  existence  with  no  governing  body,  no  rules,  no 
constitution,  but  with  God  above  as  President  and  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen  as  its  virtual  secretary'."  ^ 

If  God  above  was  the  President  of  the  new  Samaj,  the  "vir- 
tual secretary"  was  regarded  by  most  of  the  members  (and  by 

*  The  schism  was  a  hard  blow  for  old  Devendranath  Tagore,  and  the 
criticism  which  his  action  received  from  some  of  the  younger  men  was  not 
easy  to  bear.  But  he  acted  throughout  in  the  spirit  of  selflessness  taught  by 
his  religion,  and  never  defended  his  actions  against  criticism.  He  wrote  an 
autobiography,  but  brought  it  to  a  close  at  the  year  when  Keshub  joined 
the  Samaj  so  that  he  need  not  enter  into  any  self-defense  in  the  matter  of 
the  schism.   He  died  in  1899. 

'  Op.  ciU,  vol.  I,  p.  180. 

193 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

himself)  as  standing  on  terms  of  peculiar  intimacy  with  the 
President  and  as  being  His  spokesman  on  all  important  ques- 
tions. Some  of  his  followers  regarded  Keshub  as  a  kind  of 
God-man  and  paid  him  reverence  approaching  almost  to  wor- 
ship; and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Keshub,  though  not  ap- 
proving of  this,  did  regard  himself  at  times  as  pecuharly  in- 
spired. Not  all  the  members  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj  of  India 
shared  in  this  adulation  of  their  leader,  and  the  antagonism 
between  these  two  groups  was  a  source  of  weakness  for  the 
Samaj,  and  eventually  led  to  the  second  great  schism.  Much, 
however,  was  done  by  it,  especially  in  its  earher  years.  Mis- 
sionaries continued  to  be  sent  out  and  new  branches  organ- 
ized. By  the  year  1878  the  number  of  these  branches  had 
risen  to  124.  Nor  did  Keshub  forget  that  his  ideals  for  the 
Samaj  included  more  than  individual  religion.  It  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  man  that  he  founded  his  new  society  on  a  prac- 
tical and  social  issue.  Christianity  seems  to  have  influenced 
him  quite  as  much  as  Hinduism;  and  it  was  but  natural  that 
the  practical  needs  of  suffering  India  should  have  for  him  a 
powerful  appeal  and  that  he  should  throw  himself  and  his  so- 
ciety into  the  battle  against  various  social  evils,  such  as  child 
marriage  and  the  caste  system,  with  an  enthusiasm  and  a  force 
that  have  made  an  indelible  mark  on  Indian  history.  It  was 
through  his  eflforts  that  a  law  was  passed  in  1872  making 
possible  a  new  form  of  marriage  which  should  be  neither 
Hindu,  Mohammedan,  nor  Christian,  and  by  means  of  which 
a  man  and  a  woman  of  different  castes  might  be  married  and 
no  idol  be  used  in  the  ceremony.  One  of  the  excellent  stipula- 
tions of  this  law  was  that  this  form  of  marriage  could  not  be 
made  use  of  unless  the  man  were  at  least  sixteen  and  the  wo- 
man at  least  fourteen.  This  law,  of  course,  had  no  bearing  on 
the  marriage  of  Hindus,  who  could  still  marry  their  children  at 
any  age;  but  at  least  it  was  d.  first  step  in  the  right  direction. 

But  alas  for  our  poor  human  courage  and  consistency.  After 
fighting  so  splendidly  against  the  evils  of  child  marriage  and 
accomplishing  so  much  for  it,  the  leader  and  hero  of  the  pro- 
gressive Samaj  in  1878  gave  his  own  daughter  in  marriage  at 
the  age  of  thirteen  years  and  a  few  months.^    And  when  he 

1  The  inconsistency  was  not  so  glaring  as  it  seems  on  a  mere  recital. 
194 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

refused  to  retire  from  the  pulpit  as  requested  to  do  by  a  ma- 
jorit>-  of  the  members,  these  left  him  and  went  out  to  found  a 
new  societ>^  called  the  "Sadharana  [or  universal]  Brahmo 
Samaj." 

All  three  Samajes  are  still  existing  side  by  side,  and  all  have 
their  headquarters  in  Calcutta.^  They  have  a  committee 
made  up  of  representatives  from  all  three  divisions  for  certain 
purposes :  but  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of  further  union. 
This  is  a  rather  sad  result  considering  the  noble  aims  of  the 
movement  and  the  lofty  minds  that  have  lived  and  labored 
for  it;  in  view  also  of  the  fact  that  in  all  India  the  three  Sa- 
majes together  number  but  5500  members,  and  that  on  the 
essentials  of  belief  and  moral  aim  they  are  almost  at  one. 

The  Brahmo  Samaj  teaches,  as  the  Order  of  Ramakrishna 
does,  that  there  is  some  truth  in  ever>-  religion.  But  it  differs 
from  the  latter  on  the  question  of  what  this  truth  is.  The 
followers  of  Ramakrishna  make  this  vital  core  of  all  religions 
(once  they  are  understood)  to  consist  in  the  Vedanta  philoso- 
phy. The  Samaj  substitutes  for  the  Vedanta  three  simple  be- 
liefs: (i)  That  there  is  but  One  God,  "the  First  Without  a 
Second";  (2)  that  the  soul  has  before  it  an  endless  progress; 
(3)  that  worship  or  realization  of  God  is  the  duty  of  man. 
Though  direct  antagonism  to  the  Vedanta  is  not  part  of  the 

Keshub's  daughter  was  betrothed  to  a  local  Raja  who  it  was  thought  (and 
the  expectation  proved  correct)  could  be  won  over  entirely  to  the  Samaj  by 
this  union,  with  perhaps  a  considerable  following  of  his  people.  The  Raja 
refused  to  wait  any  longer  for  his  bride,  and  his  family  also  insisted  on  the 
marriage  being  celebrated  in  Hindu  fashion  (in  the  p>resence  of  an  idol). 
Keshub  insisted  on  having  a  "Brahmo"  marriage  ceremony  in  addition; 
and  also  refused  to  allow  his  daughter  to  live  with  her  husband  as  wife  till 
she  had  reached  her  fourteenth  birthday.  Hence  he  regarded  the  matter  as 
a  form  only,  and  for  the  sake  of  winning  the  Raja  and  his  following  to  the 
Samaj  he  thought  this  exception  might  be  made.  His  opponents,  of  course, 
pointed  out  that  it  was  forms  they  were  fighting,  and  that  one  exception, 
especially  if  made  by  a  man  of  influence,  may  lead  to  many. 

^  The  "Sadharana  Brahmo  Samaj "  is  by  far  the  largest  of  the  three  and 
in  fact  is  the  only  one  that  retains  much  influence.  The  "  Brahmo  Samaj  of 
India  "  had  an  interesting  history  so  long  as  its  leader  lived.  It  was  renamed 
by  him  "The  Church  of  the  New  Dispensation"  — for  he  regarded  himself 
a£  divinely  inspired,  and  the  movement  which  he  led  he  considered  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  work  of  Christ,  and  (apparently)  quite  on  a  par  with  it  in 
inspiration  and  importance.  On  Keshub's  death  no  one  could  wear  his 
mantle,  and  the  "Brahmo  Samaj  of  India"  quickly  disintegrated.  It  is  at 
present  split  into  four  bodies  who  cannot  agree  to  unite. 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

official  creed  of  the  Samaj ,  most  of  its  members  are  thoroughly 
opposed  to  it.  They  find  the  Vedanta  not  only  intellectually 
unsatisfactory,  but  morally  harmful.^ 

In  like  manner  the  Brahmo  Samaj  (in  contrast  to  the  Rama- 
krishna  movement  and  to  the  Theosophical  Society)  has  alto- 
gether broken  with  every  form  of  polytheism  and  of  idolatry 
and  does  not  hesitate  to  attack  them  both.  But  while  agreeing 
thus  closely  with  Christianity  and  Islam  in  their  monotheism, 
the  Brahmo  Samaj  parts  company  with  the  former  in  its  view 
of  incarnation,  and  with  both  in  their  belief  in  authority  and 
special  and  exclusive  revelations.  Each  man  must  be  free  to 
find  and  see  the  truth  for  himself.  The  truth  is  not  bound  and 
the  truth  is  not  provincial,  nor  did  God  reveal  Himself  once 
and  then  cease  to  communicate  with  men.  The  Brahmo  Sa- 
maj, though  rejecting  the  Vedanta,  has  retained  the  universal 
Indian  faith,  so  wonderfully  expressed  in  the  Upanishads,  of 
the  union  of  the  soul  with  God.  The  God  of  the  Brahmoist  is 
no  "infinite and  eternal  Energy  from  which  all  things  proceed," 
nor  is  He  an  absolute  Creator  of  the  eighteenth-century  type. 
He  is  closer  to  us  than  breathing,  "nearer  than  hands  and 
feet."  The  Brahmoists  lay  a  great  deal  of  emphasis  on  the 
possibility  of  this  "loving  communion  with  the  Supreme"  and 
the  consequent  "duty  of  habitual  communion."  According  to 
their  teaching,  this  immediate  realization  of  the  Divine  is  the 
very  fountain  of  life  and  life's  supreme  goal,  as  well  as  the 
source  of  an  unfailing  faith  in  a  life  that  shall  be  endless. 

1  "Under  the  influence  of  Vedantism,"  writes  the  leader  of  the  "Uni- 
versal Brahmo  Samaj,"  "the  theory  of  maya  or  illusion  has  been  invented, 
which  looks  upon  society  and  its  relations  as  so  many  snares,  the  greatest 
wisdom  of  an  aspirant  for  final  deliverance  lying  in  shunning  them.  This 
anti-social  philosophy  has  done  an  incalculable  amount  of  harm  in  this 
country.  It  has  drawn  away  into  the  life  of  mendicancy  hundreds  of  spir- 
itually disposed  persons,  and  thereby  robbed  society  of  their  personal 
influence  and  example,  and  has  led  many  others  ...  to  pine  away  in  life  by 
looking  upon  the  world  as  a  prison-house.  It  has  checked  the  spirit  of  phil- 
anthropy as  a  part  of  religious  exercise,  and  has  made  the  cast  of  Hinduism 
somber  and  melancholy.  It  is  the  mission  of  the  Theistic  Church  of  India 
to  raise  Hinduism  and  Hindu  society  from  this  somber  and  gloomy  view  of 
life  and  this  tainting  touch  of  Vedantism  by  teaching  that  human  society  is 
a  divine  dispensation,  and  all  its  relationships  are  sacred  and  spiritual." 
Shivanath  Shastri,  The  Mission  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj  (Calcutta,  Kuntaline 
Press,  1910),  pp.  50-51. 

196 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

But  the  Brahmo  Samaj  has  absorbed  so  much  of  the  spirit 
of  Jesus  that  it  cannot  stop  here,  but  goes  on  as  He  did  to 
apply  the  love  of  God  to  the  help  of  man.  It  has  not  indeed 
done  all  it  might  or  should  have  done  for  the  great  need  of 
its  native  land.  It  is  on  the  whole  rather  more  pietistic  and 
Indian  than  helpful  and  Christian.  And  yet  it  has  done  some- 
thing; and  particularly  in  the  matters  of  marriage  reform  and 
the  destruction  of  caste  it  has  shown  a  courage  and  at  times 
an  active  energy  quite  uncommon  in  India.  And  this  is  true 
not  only  of  the  society  as  such,  but  of  its  members  as  individ- 
uals. In  two  of  the  three  branches  of  the  Samaj  one  must 
break  with  caste  before  he  can  become  a  member.  Whoever 
knows  India  will  recognize  that  to  do  this  must  at  times  in- 
volve no  little  heroism,  no  little  suffering  and  sacrifice  in  the 
cause  of  an  ideal.  In  illustration  of  this  let  me  repeat  very 
briefly  the  story  of  his  own  experience  which  the  venerable 
leader  of  the  "Universal  Brahmo  Samaj,"  Mr.  Shivanath 
Shastri,  told  me. 

He  was  seventeen  when  he  determined  to  join  the  Brahmo 
Samaj  and  to  break  his  triple  cord.  His  father  begged  him  not 
to  do  so,  then  forbade,  then  threatened.  But  the  young  man 
steadfastly  answered,  "I  love  you,  father,  but  in  this  I  cannot 
obey  you."  So  he  broke  his  triple  cord  and  joined  the  Samaj, 
as  his  conscience  would  not  permit  him  to  do  otherwise.  His 
father  thereupon  disowned  him,  refused  to  see  him,  had  him 
driven  from  the  house  and  notified  him  he  should  never  return 
to  it  again  or  attempt  to  see  his  mother.  The  poor  woman,  of 
course,  was  utterly  wretched  over  it,  so  the  young  man  occa- 
sionally crept  in  by  stealth,  when  his  father  was  away,  to  see 
his  mother  for  a  few  minutes,  and  "take  the  dust  from  her 
feet,"  putting  it  on  his  head  according  to  the  Indian  custom. 
Learning  of  these  visits,  the  father  employed  two  men  to  He  in 
wait  for  his  son  and  beat  him  whenever  he  visited  his  mother. 
These  floggings  went  on  for  a  period  of  five  years,  until  in  fact 
the  strain  was  so  great  that  it  began  to  break  down  his  mother's 
health,  when  the  men  were  at  last  discharged.  But  for  nine- 
teen years  the  father  never  spoke  to  his  son  or  allowed  him  in 
his  presence.  And  all  the  while,  with  hearts  half-broken,  father 
and  son  kept  on  loving  each  other.     It  was  only  at  the  age  of 

197 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

seventy-five,  and  then  apparently  on  his  death-bed,  that  the 
old  man  saw  his  son  again  and  his  pride  melted  at  last. 

Mr.  Shastri  is  only  one  of  many  members  of  the  Brahmo 
Samaj  who  have  gone  through  trials  like  this  for  the  sake  of  the 
faith  that  is  in  them  and  for  the  coming  good  of  India.  And 
results  have  justified  their  sacrifice.  By  devotion  such  as  this, 
they  have  been  able  to  build  up  in  various  parts  of  India  little 
communities  free  from  the  shackles  of  caste  which  are  as  shin- 
ing lights  in  the  darkness  of  slavery  to  tradition  and  self-im- 
posed misery  all  about  them.  It  was  our  good  fortune  while  in 
India  to  attend  the  eighty-fourth  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  the  Brahmo  Samaj  in  Calcutta,  and  to  see  there  an  object- 
lesson  in  this  hardly  won  freedom.  The  day  was  celebrated 
by  what  we  might  call  a  children's  party  and  picnic  in  the 
meeting-house  and  grounds  of  the  Samaj.  The  children,  with 
many  of  their  parents  and  older  sisters,  assembled  in  the  hall 
used  for  preaching  services,  and  here  they  were  entertained 
for  some  time  by  short  talks  and  good  stories.  Many  of  the 
older  girls  came  up  to  our  venerable  friend,  Mr.  Shastri,  and 
"took  the  dust  from  his  feet,"  and  he  introduced  them  with 
pride  as  being  eighteen  or  more  and  still  unmarried  and  in 
school  (!).  After  a  little  we  all  adjourned  into  the  grounds, 
and  there  in  many  rows  all  the  children  sat  down  (Indian  fash- 
ion) to  a  little  feast.  It  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights 
that  I  saw  in  India  —  no  thought  of  caste,  no  fear  of  eating 
with  your  neighbor,  no  questioning  who  had  drawn  the  water, 
no  dread  of  defilement  from  some  vile  "untouchable"  near  by; 
all  enjoying  together  the  pleasant  food,  the  fresh  air,  and  the 
flowers,  in  the  sunlight  of  God's  love  who  made  of  one  flesh 
all  the  children  of  men.  It  was  a  vision  of  what  might  be  all 
over  sad  India  if  the  Brahmo  Samaj  and  the  Christian  mission- 
ary could  win  the  day. 

Unfortunately  there  is  little  sign  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj  win- 
ning much  of  the  day.  Its  membership,  as  I  have  said,  is  very 
small  and  not  noticeably  increasing.  Its  members  are  sadly 
divided  and  there  is  a  reactionary  party  within  it  which  favors 
something  like  a  compromise  with  Hinduism.  Moreover,  in 
social  work  it  is  not  so  active  as  it  should  be  —  not  even  so 
active  as  it  once  was.  Yet  it  is  doing  something  to  attack  the 
iq8 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

evils  of  Hindu  society  and  to  spread  its  message  of  universal 
theism  and  brotherly  love.  This  it  does  chiefly  by  schools  for 
the  young  —  for  it  takes  good  care  at  least  that  its  children 
shall  be  brought  up  with  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  their 
religion.  It  also  has  weekly  preaching  services  and  forms  of 
public  worship  modeled  after  those  of  Protestant  Christian 
churches.  For  the  spread  of  its  doctrine  it  has  several  publi- 
cations, and  it  supports  a  few  missionaries  in  various  parts  of 
the  peninsula.  And  in  spite  of  their  small  numbers  the  Brah- 
moists  are  hopeful  —  for,  as  they  put  it,  he  who  has  the  truth 
on  his  side  is  always  hopeful.  But  the  leaders  of  the  movement 
are  too  wise  to  suppose  that  all  the  world  will  some  day  come 
and  join  the  Brahmo  Samaj.  They  recognize  the  distinction 
between  the  universal  and  the  local  or  national  in  religion  and 
they  realize  that  each  has  its  place  and  each  may  be  helpful. 
Even  within  India  they  recognize  that  local  differences  will 
always  survive  among  the  various  religious  bodies  of  the  land. 
"But  each  and  all  of  these  bodies"  (this  is  the  hope)  "will 
agree  in  the  universal  aspects  of  the  faith,  in  loving  commu- 
nion with  the  Supreme,  in  the  abjuration  of  idolatry,  in  social- 
ity and  morahty,  in  spiritual  independence,  in  freedom  from 
the  errors  of  incarnation  and  mediation,  and  in  the  spirit  of 
true  catholicity.  Thus  the  universal  and  the  national  will  be 
combined  in  one  faith  and  practice.  In  special  reverences  and 
preferences  also  there  will  be  widely  varying  attitudes.  The 
theists  of  India  will  naturally  look  up  to  the  Rishis  mainly  as 
sources  of  inspiration;  the  theistic  congregations  of  the  West 
will  draw  their  spiritual  sustenance  from  the  life  and  teachings 
of  Jesus;  whereas  theistic  bodies  brought  up  under  the  influence 
of  Islam  will  naturally  turn  for  their  spiritual  edification 
chiefly  to  the  Arabian  Prophet.  Thus  will  all  the  modem 
faiths,  divested  of  their  peculiarly  sectarian  narrowness,  come 
and  mingle  in  a  mighty  confluence  which  in  essential  features 
will  be  natural  and  universal  theism.  That  is  the  goal  toward 
which  we  are  pushing  on."  ^ 

The  Ar>^a  Samaj,  or  Church  of  the  Aryas,  is  considerably 

younger  and  also  much  larger  than  the  Brahmo  Samaj.  It  is,  in 

fact,  by  far  the  largest  of  the  various  native  reform  move- 

^  The  Mission  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  pp.  107-08. 

199 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ments  of  India  —  if  indeed  we  may  include  under  reform 
movements  an  organization  which  regards  itself  as  the  most 
conservative  and  truly  reactionary  society  in  the  world.  The 
Arya  Samaj  was  founded  in  1875  by  a  man  who  in  learning  and 
earnest  zeal  for  his  country's  welfare  resembled  Ram  Mohun 
Roy,  but  who  in  other  ways  was  in  marked  contrast  to  him. 
The  founder  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a  man 
of  European  education  who  had  made  a  deep  study  of  both 
Mohammedanism  and  Christianity  and  who  conceived  of  a 
universal  religion  which  in  its  larger  aspect  should  have  no 
touch  of  provincialism  or  nationality.  Swami  Dayanand,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  an  Indian  of  the  Indians,  a  sannyasi  of  the 
old  type,  who  knew  but  little  about  the  culture  and  religion  of 
the  West,  and  cared  less,  and  whose  ideals  were  altogether 
bounded  by  the  traditions  of  his  land.  He  too  dreamed  of  a 
universal  religion;  but  this  universal  religion  was  to  be  simply 
the  ancient  rehgion  of  his  own  country,  which,  since  it  was  the 
only  true  religion,  ought  to  be  adopted  by  all  the  world. 

"Dayanand"  was  not  the  original  name  of  this  rather  re- 
markable man.^  He  kept  his  name  concealed  for  years  after  he 
left  home,  so  that  his  father  might  not  be  able  to  find  him ;  and 
adopted  in  its  stead  the  name  "Dayanand"  by  which  he  has 
been  known  ever  since.  For  when  he  was  about  twent>'-one  he 
had  run  away  from  his  parents  in  order  to  avoid  being  married, 
his  great  desire  being  to  give  himself  up  to  the  celibate,  reli- 
gious Hfe  of  a  Brahmachari,  and  to  seek  out,  by  means  of  an- 
cient books  and  his  own  reflection  and  experience,  the  pathway 
to  salvation.  Even  as  a  boy  he  had  become  thoroughly  skep- 
tical of  the  value  of  puja  to  idols  (though  his  father  was  an 
enthusiastic  worshiper  in  the  temple  of  Shiva),  and  the  older 
he  grew  the  more  disgusted  he  became  with  the  whole  practice. 
For  years  he  wandered  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
India,  visiting  learned  men  and  making  himself  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  sacred  Sanskrit  literature.  And  at  Ma- 
thura  he  came  upon  a  great  Vedic  scholar  named  Swami  Virja- 
nand,  who  strengthened  in  him  the  belief  toward  which  he  was 
already  tending,  and  which  was  destined  to  be  the  foundation 

*  His  original  name  was  Mul  Shankar  —  a  fact  which  came  out  only 
after  his  death. 

aoo 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

principle  of  the  Ar\'a  Samaj.  For  the  Swami's  first  instruc- 
tion to  him  was  to  "drown"  all  his  modern  books  in  the  river. 
And  when  Swami  Virjanand  died,  and  Dayanand's  real  mission 
began,  he  went  up  and  down  the  land  preaching  a  purer  Hindu- 
ism with  the  cr\'  ever  on  his  lips.  Back  to  the  Vedas! 

Swami  Da^'anand  Saraswati  (for  that  was  his  full  name, 
given  him  when  he  was  made  a  sannyasi)  was  a  man  of  unusual 
gifts  and  great  learning,  and  (if  we  may  believe  the  accounts  of 
his  followers)  he  usually  got  the  better  of  the  pundits  whom  he 
was  constantly  challenging  to  public  discussion.  He  was  gifted 
with  great  physical  powers  and  lectured  with  untiring  energ>'  to 
the  crowds  who  came  to  hear  him,  from  morning  to  night.  His 
usual  subjects  of  discourse  were  the  folly  and  sin  of  idolatry, 
polytheism,  and  pantheism,  and  the  untrustvvorthiness  of  most 
of  the  so-called  sacred  books  of  India  except  the  Vedas  and  the 
older  Shastras.  He  got  a  considerable  following  in  several  of 
the  cities  of  the  Punjab,  the  United  Provinces,  and  Bombay, 
and  in  1875  he  began  forming  these  into  a  society  known  as 
the  "  Arya  Samaj."  He  died  in  1883.  The  Rev.  C.  F.  Andrews, 
in  his  book  "The  Indian  Renaissance,"  writes  of  him  as  fol- 
lows: "For  Dayanand's  personality^  and  character  there  may 
well  be  almost  unqualified  admiration.  He  was  a  puritan  to 
the  backbone,  and  lived  up  to  his  creed.  He  was  a  fighter, 
strong,  virile,  independent,  if  somewhat  imperious  in  behavi- 
our. .  .  .  His  courage  in  facing  his  own  countrymen  through 
years  of  contumely  and  persecution  was  nothing  less  than 
heroic.    He  was  a  passionate  lover  of  truth."  ^ 

The  teachings  of  the  Samaj  are  of  course  the  teachings  of  its 
founder,  based  upon  his  ten  or  more  books  and  pamphlets,  his 
lectures  and  his  method  of  interpreting  the  scriptures.  The 
most  fundamental  of  these  teachings,  as  has  been  said,  are  the 
doctrines  that  there  is  but  one  God  and  that  the  Vedas  are  ab- 
solutely authoritative  and  nothing  else  is.  By  the  Vedas  the 
Samaj  understands  only  the  h>Tnns  or  "Samhita"  of  the  four 
Vedas.  The  Brahmanas  and  ten  of  the  Upanishads,  together 
with  Manu  and  a  few  other  ancient  books,  are  regarded  as  use- 
ful and  worthy  of  veneration,  but  are  not  considered  to  be  in- 

1  Quoted  by  Lajpat  Rai  in  The  Arya  Samaj  (London,  Longmans,  1915), 
p.  281. 

201 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

spired  or  authoritative.  They  were  written  by  wise  and  pious 
Rishis  of  old,  but  did  not  come  from  God  Himself;  and  thus  for 
the  Arya  Samaj  they  occupy  much  the  same  position  as  is  held 
in  Christianity  by  the  writings  of  the  Church  Fathers.  The 
Veda,  on  the  other  hand,  is  eternal  and  comes  from  God  Him- 
self.^ He  inspired  it  at  the  beginning  of  creation  in  the  hearts 
of  four  great  Rishis.  They  did  not  originate  it,  but  acted 
.  merely  as  channels  through  which  the  four  eternal  Vedas  — 
which  are  really  one  —  were  communicated  to  men.  The  Veda 
is  not  only  eternal  and  absolutely  authoritative.  It  is  "com- 
prehensive and  perfect,  free  from  all  error,  and  incapable  of 
being  amended  or  of  becoming  obsolete  in  part  or  in  whole."  ^ 
It  is  from  the  Vedas  that  all  human  knowledge,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, is  derived.  "As  people  inhabiting  some  immense  forest 
have  all  the  instincts  and  ways  of  brutes,  even  such  instincts 
and  ways  would  all  mankind  have  retained  from  the  beginning 
of  creation  to  the  present  time,  if  the  Vedas  had  not  been  re- 
vealed to  them."  3 

It  is  evident  that  our  Western  upholders  of  the  literal  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible  have  still  something  to  learn  from  these 
Indian  exegetes.  And  the  more  one  listens  to  their  claims,  the 
more  one's  wonder  grows.  The  Vedic  religion,  it  seems,  was 
the  primitive  religion  of  all  the  world.  "All  the  people  believed 
in  it,"  says  Dayanand,  "and  regarded  one  another  like  their 
second  self."  For  in  those  good  old  times  there  was  easy  com- 
munication between  all  parts  of  the  earth;  and  we  have  it  on 
Dayanand 's  authority  that  the  kings  of  India  contracted 
matrimonial  alliances  with  the  kings  of  America.  Nor  need  one 
wonder  at  this,  for  steam  and  electricity  and  all  so-called 
modern  discoveries  and  inventions  were  known  at  least  in 
germ  in  the  Vedic  days  and  in  fact  are  all  revealed  (to  the  eye 
of  faith)  within  the  Veda.  Of  course  these  brave  assertions 
require  for  their  confirmation  an  equally  courageous  method 
of  interpretation.  To  the  ignorant  Western  reader  the  Rig 
Veda  seems  to  teach  plainly  the  existence  of  many  gods,  the 

*  This  doctrine,  of  course,  is  not  original  with  Dayanand,  but  has  been 
the  orthodox  Indian  view  for  thousands  of  years. 

*  Bawa  Chhajju  Singh,  The  Teaching  of  the  Arya  Samaj  (Lahore,  Punjab 
Printing  Works,  1903),  p.  loi. 

'  Quoted  by  Bawa  Chhajju  Singh  from  Dayanand,  p.  90. 

202 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

Atharva  seems  to  be  full  of  primitive,  superstitious,  magical 
conceptions,  and  all  four  seem  to  have  about  as  much  relation 
to  science  as  has  the  story  of  Jack  the  Giant  Killer.  I  hinted  at 
something  of  the  sort  to  one  of  the  most  influential  and  learned 
members  of  the  Samaj, —  a  gentleman  of  very  considerable 
culture  and  ability  whom  I  met  in  Lahore.  He  answered 
with  a  smile  that  things  might  naturally  seem  so  to  one  who 
knew  no  Sanskrit  or  to  European  Sanskritists  who  came  to 
the  study  of  the  Vedas  with  Western  prejudices;  that  as  a 
fact  all  European  translations  of  the  Vedas  were  bad  mis- 
translations; that  there  were  no  magical  formulas  in  the 
Atharva  nor  any  hint  of  polytheism  in  the  Rik;  and  that  what- 
ever in  the  text  of  the  Vedas  seemed  to  be  polytheistic,  false,  or 
magical  must  be  taken  as  a  symbolical  expression  of  a  deeper 
truth.  This  last  sentence  of  my  informant  gives  the  real  Arya 
method  of  interpretation:  granted  first  of  all  that  the  Veda 
teaches  only  what  is  true,  everything  in  it  that  seems  to  be 
mistaken  must  be  either  a  "late  interpolation"  or  a  symbol 
merely  of  the  real  but  hidden  meaning.^ 

According  to  Dayanand  and  the  Arya  Samaj,  then,  there  is 
but  one  God,  who  is  spiritual  and  personal.  Polytheism  and 
the  use  of  images  are  regarded  as  vile  degenerations  from  the 
original  pure  monotheistic  worship  of  the  Vedas,  and  they  are 
attacked  and  ridiculed  on  every  occasion.  The  One  God  is 
eternal ;  but  so  also  are  matter  and  all  finite  souls.  God  did  not 
create  matter;  but  there  is  a  succession  of  endless  cycles,  and  at 
the  beginning  of  each  God  creates  the  world  out  of  the  pre- 
existing matter. 

Dayanand  is  an  enthusiastic  upholder  of  the  traditional 
Indian  belief  in  transmigration  and  Karma,  and  naturally  has 
no  difficulty  in  finding  ample  authority  for  it  in  the  Vedas  (a 
thing  no  European  critic  has  ever  been  able  to  do).  The  soul 
that  has  obtained  release  from  Karma  is  not  (as  the  Vedanta 
teaches)  absorbed  in  God.  "She  keeps  her  individual  existence 
and  moves  about  at  liberty  without  any  impediment  in  God, 

^  That  men  of  such  learning,  ability,  and  liberal  ideas  as  are  many  of  the 
members  of  the  Ar>-a  Samaj  should  entertain  views  such  as  these  on  the 
nature  of  the  scriptures  and  the  proper  interpretation  thereof  would  seem  a 
psychological  puzzle,  if  we  were  not  familiar  with  any  number  of  examples 
of  the  same  sort  of  thing  much  nearer  home. 

203 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

who  pervades  all,  with  her  happiness  and  knowledge  per- 
fected." ^  The  means  of  salvation  are,  according  to  Dayanand, 
the  following:  "Obedience  to  God's  commandments;  freedom 
from  irreligion  [vice] ;  freedom  from  ignorance,  from  bad  com- 
pany, from  evil  thoughts  or  associations,  and  from  improper 
sensuousness  or  indulgence  in  wicked  pleasures;  veracity, 
beneficence,  knowledge,  impartial  justice,  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  virtue  or  religion,  remembering  God,  praying  to  Him. 
meditating  on  Him,  or  introspection,  acquiring  knowledge, 
teaching,  any  honest  profession,  the  advancement  of  knowl- 
edge, the  adoption  of  righteous  means  in  affairs,  doing  every- 
thing with  impartiahty,  equity,  and  righteousness."  ^ 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  for  Dayanand  and  his  follow- 
ers, religion  and  morality  are  ver>'  closely  associated,  and  that 
in  fact  the  great  means  of  salvation  are  the  culture  of  the  soul 
and  the  performance  of  one's  duty.  This  comes  out  again  very 
clearly  in  the  "The  Principles  of  the  Ar\'a  Samaj,"  which  I 
append  in  a  note.^  The  moral  trend  of  the  whole  movement  is 
indeed  very  strong,  and  it  has  resulted  not  only  in  individual 
morality,  but  in  a  considerable  amount  of  effort  in  philan- 

1  Dayanand,  Satyarth  Prakash  (English  translation,  Lahore,  Virjanand 
Press,  1908),  p.  260. 

*  Ihid.,  p.  260. 

*  I.  God  is  the  Primary  Source  of  all  True  Knowledge  and  all  that  is 
known  by  its  means. 

2.  God  is  All-Truth,  All-Knowledge,  and  Happiness  itself,  Incorporeal, 
Almighty,  Just,  Merciful,  Unbegotten,  Infinite,  Unchangeable,  Without  a 
Beginning,  Incomparable,  All-supporting,  The  Lord  of  All,  All-per\-ading, 
Omniscient,  Imperishable,  Immortal,  Fearless,  Eternal,  Holy,  and  the 
Cause  of  the  Universe.  To  Him  alone  Worship  is  due. 

3.  The  \'eda  is  the  Book  of  True  Knowledge,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
Aryas  to  study,  teach,  recite,  and  hear  it. 

4.  One  should  always  be  ready  to  accept  Truth  and  renounce  Falsehood. 

5.  Duty  determined  after  due  consideration  of  right  and  wrong  should  be 
the  basic  principle  of  all  our  acti\-ities. 

6.  To  benefit  the  world  is  the  chief  object  of  the  Arya  Samaj ;  i.e.,  to  effect 
physical,  spiritual,  and  social  improvement. 

7.  Love,  Righteousness,  and  Propriety  should  be  the  guiding  principles 
in  our  dealing  with  others. 

8.  We  ought  to  eradicate  ignorance  and  propagate  knowledge. 

9.  No  one  should  rest  contented  with  his  individual  improvement  but 
should  consider  his  own  improvement  in  that  of  others. 

10.  In  all  affairs  that  affect  the  well-being  of  society  at  large  the  individ- 
ual is  unfree,  but  in  strictly  personal  matters  he  may  have  his  own  way. 

204 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

thropy  and  for  social  reform.  It  has  for  years  been  the  leader 
of  Hindu  activity  in  the  founding  of  orphanages,  —  with  the 
twofold  aim  of  saving  children  from  star\^ation  and  from 
Christianity.  In  the  great  famines  of  1897-98,  and  1 899-1900 
it  did  a  large  amount  of  excellent  relief  work,  particularly  in 
connection  with  its  many  orphanages  which  were  thrown  open 
for  the  reception  of  starving  children,  who  were  thereafter 
brought  up  in  pious  Vedic  fashion.  In  the  second  of  these  fam- 
ines upwards  of  seventeen  hundred  children  were  thus  rescued. 

On  the  caste  problem  the  Arya  Samaj  does  not  take  the 
out-and-out  stand  taken  by  the  two  younger  branches  of  the 
Brahmo  Samaj ;  yet  it  seeks  to  modify  caste  very  considerably 
by  encouraging  interdining  and  intermarriage  among  the 
twnce-born,  and  by  insisting  that  caste  should  be  (and  in 
Vedic  times  was  ^),  a  matter  of  man's  nature,  not  of  his  birth. 
Mr.  Hansraj,  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
Samaj,  expressed  it  to  me  thus:  "The  important  question 
about  a  man  is  what  he  is  in  himself,  not  what  his  father  was. 
His  nature,  not  his  birth  should  settle  his  social  status." 

The  logical  corollary  of  this  view  of  caste  is  an  effort  to  up- 
lift the  outcaste;  and  in  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen 
the  methods  used  by  the  Arya  Samaj  to  make  over  the  Un- 
touchables into  perfectly  good  Hindus.  This  is  often  done  in 
wholesale  fashion,  the  "mass  methods"  of  the  Christian  mis- 
sionaries being  rivaled.  Thus  in  one  district  an  "untouchable" 
caste  of  ten  thousand  was  admitted  into  the  Arya  Samaj  in  a 
body,  and  in  another  district  some  thirty-six  thousand  of  an- 
other caste. ^  But  the  Samaj  is  not  content  with  "converting" 
these  outcastes;  it  has  organized  several  societies  to  look  after 
their  education  and  uplift,  the  most  important  of  which  is  the 
Depressed  Classes  Mission. 

The  Ar>'a  Samaj  is  strongly  opposed  to  child  marriage, 
although  it  has  never  taken  the  prominent  part  in  the  cam- 
paign against  this  evil  which  so  distinguished  the  Brahmo 
Samaj  in  the  days  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.    The  minimum 

»  In  the  Satyarth  Prakash,  Dayanand  cites  several  passages  from  the 
Shastras  to  prove  this.  See  pages  135-37  of  the  English  translation.  Cf. 
also  Lajpat  Rai,  op  cit.,  pp.  137-43- 

*  See  Lajpat  Rai,  op.  cit.,  p.  230. 

205 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

marriageable  age  for  girls  it  fixes  at  sixteen,  and  for  boys  at 
twenty-five.  Widow  remarriage  is  also  permitted,  but  it  is 
not  approved  except  in  the  case  of  virgin  widows.  If  the  wife 
has  really  been  a  wife,  the  Samaj  thinks  she  should  be  faithful 
to  her  husband's  memory  always.^  This  is  a  rather  beautiful 
thought;  but  the  odd  part  of  it  is  that  no  such  ideal  fidelity  is 
expected  or  desired  of  the  •widower. 

But  the  Samaj  has  exerted  more  effort  on  education  than 
upon  philanthropy  or  social  reform.  "In  the  Punjab  and 
the  United  Provinces  its  work,"  according  to  M.  Rai,  "  in  ex- 
tent and  volume,  is  second  to  no  other  agency  except  the 
Government.  Christian  Missions  maintain  a  large  number  of 
schools  of  all  kinds,  but  no  single  mission  can  claim  to  have 
as  many  schools  for  boys  and  girls  as  the  Arya  Samaj."  ^  In 
addition  to  these  numerous  schools  each  branch  of  the  Samaj 
(for  there  has  been  a  division  in  the  Church  of  the  Aryas) 
maintains  a  college.  The  older  of  these,  the  Dayanand  Anglo 
Vedic  College  of  Lahore  (commonly  known  as  the  "D.A.V."), 
is  a  large  and  flourishing  institution,  with  many  handsome 
buildings.  It  has  1737  students  in  the  school  department  and 
903  in  the  collegiate,  "besides  a  number  in  the  purely  Vedic 
department,  in  the  faculty  of  Hindu  medicine,  in  the  engineer- 
ing and  tailoring  classes."  ^  The  faculty  of  the  college  is  a  group 
of  very  pleasant  and  cultured  native  gentlemen  who  under- 
stand the  needs  of  the  situation  and  give  their  students  a 
modern  and  yet  Indian  education,  with  required  courses  in 
Sanskrit  and  the  Vedic  religion  as  taught  by  Dayanand.  The 
purpose  of  the  college  is  to  crown  the  system  of  lower  and 
middle  schools  which  the  Samaj  conducts  in  various  parts  of 
the  Punjab,  and  to  give  its  students  not  only  a  good  education 
but  also  rational  and  defensible  religious  ideas  which  shall 
yet  be  Indian. 

The  college  of  the  other  (the  Gurukula)  sect  is  a  much  more 
conservative  and  purely  Indian  institution.*  Its  founders  dis- 
approved of  the  western  tone  of  the  D.A.V.  and  sought  to 

^  For  Dayanand's  reasons  for  this  position  see  the  Satyarth  Prakash, 
p.  156. 

^  Op.  cit.,  p.  179.  »  Lajpat  Rai,  op.  cit.,  p.  191. 

*  It  is  situated  at  Kangri,  on  the  Ganges  near  Hardwar,  and  has  about 
three  hundred  students,  most  of  whom  are  in  the  school  department. 

206 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

imitate  as  far  as  possible  the  education  of  the  Brahmachari  in 
the  good  old  Vedic  days.  "  The  boys  when  entering  are  usually 
of  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  years.  On  entering,  the  boys  take 
a  vow  of  poverts',  chastity',  and  obedience  for  sixteen  years, 
and  this  vow  they  renew  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  year.  The 
pupils  are  not  allowed  to  visit  their  homes  during  this  long 
period  of  training,  nor  can  their  relations  come  to  the  school 
oftener  than  once  a  month."  ^ 

The  Samaj  has  also  a  college  for  girls  and  a  number  of  girls' 
schools.  In  all  these  schools,  for  both  sexes,  emphasis  is  laid 
upon  religious  training.  Something  also  is  done  for  the  reli- 
gious instruction  of  adults,  for  whose  benefit  several  cheap 
editions  of  the  ritual  are  published,  with  the  Sanskrit  verses 
transliterated  and  translated.-  And  more  important  still,  they 
have  the  weekly  meeting  with  its  sermon,  and  the  weekly  and 
daily  ritual  of  worship. 

For  though  Dayanand  regarded  a  moral  life  as  the  great  road 
to  salvation,  he  was  not  unaware  of  the  utility'  of  ritual  in  con- 
centrating the  attention  upon  religious  thoughts  and  building 
up  a  religious  and  moral  habit  of  mind.  Hence  he  taught  his 
followers  to  practice  five  daily  duties,  which  are  in  part  moral, 
in  part  ritualistic.  They  are  the  following:  (i)  Ritualistic 
washing,  meditation,  and  the  reciting  of  certain  Sanskrit 
verses;  (2)  the  "Agnihotra"  or  "Hawan"  sacrifice  to  all  na- 

1  Quoted  by  Mr.  Rai  from  an  article  by  Mr.  Myron  Phelps. 

2  The  majority,  of  course,  must  stop  their  Sanskrit  here  and  can  hardly 
be  expected  to  delve  into  the  \'edas.  This  fact  is  a  little  embarrassing  at 
times  for  an  upholder  of  the  Samaj:  for,  as  one  of  them  wxites,  they  all 
take  pride  in  being  the  only  true  followers  of  the  Veda  and  regard  the  read- 
ing of  the  Veda  a  sacred  duty.  "  But  when  cornered  by  some  clever  Muslim 
or  Christian  with  the  awkward  question,  'Have  you  read  the  Vedas?'  the 
majority  can  render  no  answer  but  that  inscribed  on  their  blank  faces  by 
blushes  of  ignorance."  Nor  would  it  be  wise  for  the  leaders  to  remedy  this 
difficulty  by  putting  into  the  hands  of  the  people  Griffith's  or  Wilson's 
translations  of  the  Rik  or  Whitney  and  Lanman's  translation  of  the  Athar- 
van.  Hence  Mr.  Gokul  Chand  has  culled  for  their  benefit  certain  proper 
verses  from  the  hymns  in  a  little  book  called  the  Message  of  the  Vedas;  and 
an  authoritative  translation  is  promised  which  will  show  up  the  absurd 
inaccuracies  of  Griffith,  Max  Miiller,  and  the  rest.  But  on  the  whole,  it 
must  be  said  that  the  Samaj  is  made  up  of  ver>'  intelligent  men  and  that 
its  leaders  are  wide  awake  to  the  importance  of  education,  for  both  the 
young  and  the  old,  and  are  doing  much  to  make  the  Samaj  a  real  power  in 
the  land  and  to  keep  it  abreast  of  the  times. 

207 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ture  (to  be  explained  presently) ;  (3)  ministering  to  the  com- 
fort of  parents  and  elders;  (4)  feeding  the  poor  (certain  San- 
skrit verses  being  said  at  the  same  time) ;  (5)  hospitality  to 
sannyasins,  religious  teachers,  etc.  The  second  of  these  is  of 
special  interest,  as  being  a  deliberate  adaptation  of  an  ancient 
rite  into  a  new  and  decidedly  rationalistic  religion,  in  part  for 
the  sake  of  the  psychological  and  social  effect  upon  the  partici- 
pants. Every  good  Arya  is  expected  to  perform  it,  or  be  pres- 
ent at  its  performance,  at  least  once  a  day  either  in  his  home 
or  in  a  public  gathering.  By  good  luck  we  happened  to  be  in 
Lahore  at  the  time  of  the  thirty-sixth  anniversary  of  the  Samaj 
and  were  invited  to  see  the  public  Agnihotra  or  Hawan  cere- 
mony with  which  the  celebration  of  the  day  began.  It  was 
held  in  the  large  bailor  court  of  the  "Dayanand  Anglo-Vedic 
Middle  School,"  which  except  for  a  canopy  was  open  to  the 
sky.  The  walls  were  hung  with  familiar  mottoes,  in  English 
and  Hindu  —  such  as  Garrison's  well-known  (but  here  some- 
what irrelevant)  words:  "  I  will  not  equivocate  —  I  will  not  ex- 
cuse —  I  will  not  retreat  a  single  inch  —  and  I  will  be  heard  " ; 
and  Watts's 

"Birds  in  their  little  nests  agree 
But  't  is  a  shameful  sight 
When  children  of  one  family 
Fall  out  in  chide  and  fight "  (sic). 

By  the  side  of  the  speaker's  platform  there  was  a  sort  of 
arbor,  with  a  banana  tree  at  each  corner,  and  in  the  center  of 
it  a  pit  perhaps  two  feet  square  and  nearly  as  deep  (in  theory 
it  should  be  sixteen  inches  by  sixteen  by  sixteen).  It  was  neatly 
plastered,  apparently  with  cow-dung,  and  the  borders  of  it 
decorated  with  colors.  Near  it  was  a  pile  of  wood,  a  large 
brass  dish  full  of  ghi  or  liquefied  butter,  and  two  basins  filled 
with  a  brown  mixture  of  various  substances — "odoriferous, 
nutritive,  sweet,  and  curative."  About  fifteen  men  and  boys 
took  their  places  in  the  arbor  and  around  the  pit,  and  began  by 
chanting  a  long  series  of  Sanskrit  hymns  from  the  Vedas.  The 
chanting  was  on  three  notes  only,  with  much  nasal  pausing  on 
ms  and  ns;  it  was  done  at  first  by  memory,  but  for  the  later 
hymns  books  had  to  be  consulted.  Meanwhile  the  audience 
was  coming  in,  consisting  of  forty  or  fifty  men,  perhaps  a  hun- 
208 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

dred  boys  from  the  Dayanand  Anglo-Vedic  school  (clean  and 
happy-looking  and  all  with  pink  turbans),  and  about  a  dozen 
women  and  young  children  who  took  their  places  behind  a 
screen  specially  provided  for  them.  The  real  ceremony  now 
began.  Four  pieces  of  resinous  material,  of  the  shape  and  size 
of  a  pencil,  were  lighted  and  set  up  at  the  corners  of  the  pit;  a 
fire  was  built  in  the  pit  and  started  —  the  chanting  continuing 
till  the  end  of  the  performance.  When  the  fire  began  to  blaze 
one  of  the  men  poured  a  ladle  of  ghi  into  it  and  this  act  he  re- 
peated every  few  minutes.  Meanwhile  the  bowls  containing 
the  brown  and  "curative"  mixture  were  passed  about  and  each 
of  the  boys  and  men  by  turns  threw  in  a  handful.  Very  little 
smoke  was  produced  and  hardly  any  odor.  This  process  was 
continued  till  all  the  mixture  and  all  the  ghi  were  used  up, 
when  the  chanting  ceased  and  the  ceremony  ended.  The  fol- 
lowing verses  are  translations  of  some  of  those  chanted  and 
will  serve  as  samples  of  all  the  Arya  prayers  and  hymns :  — 

"We  offer  to  Him  who  is  the  soul  of  movable  and  immovable  things,  and 
who  is  the  light  of  lights  and  life  of  all,  so  that  this  offering  may  be  of  service 
to  all  the  creatures." 

"We  offer  to  Him  who  is  the  teacher  of  truth  to  learned  people,  and  who 
is  the  life  of  all." 

"We  offer  to  Him  who  is  self-glorious  and  the  illuminer  of  the  whole 
world." 

"O  God,  we  offer  to  Thee  who  art  our  life,  knowledge,  and  motion." - 

"O  God,  we  offer  to  Thee  who  art  holiness,  f)ower,  and  space." 

"O  God,  we  offer  to  Thee  who  art  self-existent,  light,  essence,  immortal- 
ity, supreme  being,  life,  holiness,  and  happiness." 

"O  God,  we  offer  to  Thee,  who  art  all  in  all." 

The  Samajists  name  several  purposes  in  explaining  this  cere- 
mony. Thus  they  say  it  emphasizes  their  connection  with 
Vedic  times  (for,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  an  adaptation  of  a  Vedic 
rite) ;  it  is  a  symbol  of  one's  devotion  to  all  the  world,  etc.  But 
the  first  reason  they  will  give  you  for  it  is  that  it  purifies  the  air. 
Our  bodies  throw  off  certain  poisonous  excretions  into  the  air 
and  we  owe  it  to  nature  to  make  this  return.  Dayanand  wrote, 
"The  vapor  which,  mixed  with  particles  of  fragrant  things, 
goes  up  into  the  sky,  purifies  the  water  suspended  in  the  air 
and  also  causes  rain  in  greater  abundance.  This  improves  the 
quality  of  herbs,  medicinal  plants,  corn  and  other  vegetable 
productions.  .  .  .  There  are  many  other  benefits  which  accrue 
209 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

from  the  performance  of  the  ceremony.  The  wise  can  think 
them  out  for  themselves."  ^  Every  good  Arya  beheves  im- 
pHcitly  that  the  air  is  very  much  better  after  the  ghi  has  been 
burned;  and  both  the  school  and  the  college  open  every  day 
with  the  ceremony. 

The  Samaj  holds  regular  weekly  services  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings —  Sunday  being  chosen  certainly  not  out  of  deference  to 
Christianity,  but  because  on  that  morning  only  are  the  various 
offices  closed.  The  service  is  simple  but  very  long  —  last- 
ing three  or  four  hours.  Except  for  the  ghi  ceremony  just 
described,  it  resembles  closely  the  service  in  a  Protestant 
Evangelical  Church.  The  Samaj  has  no  priesthood,  and  vari- 
ous members,  qualified  by  education  for  the  task,  take  turns 
in  conducting  the  exercises.  These  consist,  in  addition  to  the 
ghi  sacrifice,  of  a  sermon,  chanting  from  the  Vedas,  and  prayers, 
some  formal,  some  spontaneous  and  extempore.  The  Samaj 
is  excellently  organized.  Every  city  and  village  under  its  in- 
fluence has  its  own  local  Samaj,  which  possesses  a  good-sized 
meeting-house,  and  sends  representatives  to  the  Provincial 
Assembly.  These  Provincial  Assemblies,  in  turn,  send  repre- 
sentatives to  the  All  India  Assembly.  In  theory  any  Hindu 
—  whether  natural  or  artificial  —  may  become  a  member  of 
the  Arya  Samaj ;  and  there  are  methods  and  formulas  by  which 
even  the  Pariah  or  the  foreigner  may  be  made  over  into  a  Hindu 
for  this  purpose.  "Effective  membership  involves  (a)  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Ten  Principles;  (b)  the  payment  of  one  per 
cent,  of  one's  income  towards  the  revenues  of  the  Samaj; 
(c)  attendance  at  meetings;  (d)  right  conduct."  ^ 

As  the  reader  will  have  noted,  the  Arya  Samaj  is  emphati- 
cally a  national  and  Indian  movement.  It  is  to  this  that  it 
owes  its  popularity  and  its  rapid  growth  compared  with  the 
Brahmo  Samaj.  The  Brahmo  Samaj  is  too  universal  and  also 
too  Christian  to  please  the  average  Hindu.  It  is  on  this  ground 
especially  that  Dayanand  attacked  it.  How,  in  fact,  he  asked, 
could  one  expect  anything  really  good  from  people  who  do  not 
accept  the  Vedas  as  inspired?  "Thus  to  their  hearts'  content," 
he  continues,  "the  Brahmoists  cry  down  the  glory  of  their 

^  Quoted  from  Dayanand  by  Bawa  Chhajju  Singh,  op.  cit.,  p.  210. 
*  Lajpat  Rai,  op.  cit.,  p.  151. 


BRAHMO   SAMAJ   AND   ARYA   SAMAJ 

country  and  the  greatness  of  its  ancients,  extol  the  English  and 
Christians  in  their  lectures,  and  assert  that  there  have  been  no 
learned  people  in  the  world  unto  this  day  except  the  English." 
They  have,  however,  he  admits,  done  some  good  in  "saving  a 
few  persons  from  being  converted  to  Christianity."  ^ 

For  the  Ar>-a  Samaj  recognizes  the  Christian  missionaries 
as  its  greatest  foes;  and  I  may  add,  the  Christian  mission- 
aries reciprocate  the  sentiment.  Both  are  aggressive,  both 
oppose  idolatry  and  polytheism,  both  preach  moral  living 
as  the  means  of  salvation,  and  both  rely  on  preaching  of  this 
sort  in  their  appeal  to  the  more  intelligent,  and  especially  to 
the  young.  Many  of  the  missionaries  will  tell  you  that  the  aim 
of  the  Samaj  is  political  and  revolutionary  rather  than  reli- 
gious and  moral  and  are  hardly  willing  to  give  this  Hindu  devil 
its  due.  The  Samaj ists,  in  their  turn,  arm  themselves  with 
arguments  from  the  Rationalist  Press  Association  and  make 
ever>^  effort  possible  to  counteract  the  work  of  the  missionary. 
One  of  their  popular  tracts  is  entitled  "Is  not  Christianity  a 
False  and  Fabulous  Religion?"  And  one  missionary  told  me 
of  a  story  he  had  heard  in  many  villages  and  which  he  traced 
to  the  Samaj  to  the  effect  that  Jesus  was  a  bad  man  and  once 
stole  a  donkey. 

But  toward  the  Hinduism  of  to-day,  both  popular  and  philo- 
sophical, the  militant  Samaj  is  hardly  more  friendly.  True,  it 
aims  to  bring  about  a  purified  and  what  it  considers  an  ancient 
and  true  Hinduism;  and,  in  the  words  of  one  of  its  exponents, 
"it  does  not  aim  at  any  future  outside  and  beyond  the  pale  of 
Hinduism."  -  But  with  the  modem  degenerate  descendant 
of  the  ancient  religion  it  has  many  quarrels.  Its  polytheism, 
its  idolatry',  its  shraddha  rites,  its  veneration  of  sacred  places, 
and  most  of  its  books  are  all  wrong.  And  so  is  also  its  nar- 
rowness —  for  the  Arya  Samaj  would  like  to  see  not  only  all 
India  but  all  the  world  within  its  fold,  and  unlike  Hinduism 
it  would  gladly  accept  Europeans  in  its  membership.  And  only 
less  repugnant  to  it  than  the  idolatry  of  the  people  is  the  pan- 
theistic Vedanta  of  the  philosophers  and  pundits.  To  the 
Arya,  the  so-called  idealism  of  Shankara's  philosophy  is  only 


1  Satyarth  Prakash,  p.  376. 
*  Lajpat  Rai,  op.  cit.,  p.  274. 


211 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

materialism  under  a  different  name.^  And  for  reasons  very 
similar  to  these,  the  Aryas  look  at  the  Theosophist  with  con- 
siderable suspicion.  One  of  them  said  to  me,  "Theosophy  is 
trying  to  bring  back  and  retain  in  Hinduism  all  the  things  — 
such  as  idolatry,  shraddha  rites,  belief  in  ghosts,  etc.  — which 
we  have  been  trying  to  abolish.  Doubtless  it  has  done  some 
good  work  in  India;  but  in  its  attempt  to  accept  everything 
Indian  it  has  filled  itself  with  inconsistencies.  It  tries  to  say 
Yes,  Yes,  to  every  creed." 

The  Arya  Samaj  is  still  growing,  especially  in  the  Punjab 
and  the  United  Provinces.  Altogether  it  has  about  250,ocx) 
members. 2  In  the  South  of  India  the  difference  of  language 
stands  in  the  way  of  its  missionary  propagation,  and  in  Bengal 
the  Brahmo  Samaj  seems  to  have  preempted  the  field.  In  1893 
the  Samaj  suffered  a  most  unfortunate  "split"  on  the  food 
and  education  questions.  The  conservatives,  who  regarded 
Dayanand's  opinions  and  example  as  authoritative,  opposed 
the  admission  to  membership  of  any  who  ate  meat,  and  in- 
sisted that  the  education  of  the  young  should  be  less  western 
and  more  "Vedic"  than  that  given  at  the  "D.A.V."  As  they 
could  not  persuade  their  brethren  they  branched  off  and  have 
started  many  local  Samaj  es  and  schools  and  (as  we  have 
seen)  a  college  of  their  own.  Although  efforts  at  reconcilia- 
tion have  been  repeatedly  made,  the  division  has  not  yet 
been  healed.  This,  however,  has  by  no  means  paralyzed  the 
Samaj,  which  by  means  of  pamphlets,  weekly  preaching  ser- 
vices, schools,  and  its  three  colleges  is  still  putting  up  a  good 
fight  and  a  fairly  united  front  against  the  superstitious  Hindu 
and  the  Christian  missionary. 

^  Thus  Mr.  Hansraj  said  to  me,  "The  Vedantist  takes  this  material 
world,  makes  it  one,  and  calls  it '  God,'  and  thinks  that  thereby  he  has  spir- 
itualized it.  As  a  fact  if  you  do  away  with  a  personal  God  and  make  God 
identical  with  the  material  world  which  you  call  spiritual,  you  have  practi- 
cally nothing  left  but  what  the  materialists  have,  unless  you  wish  to  cheat 
yourself  with  the  name.  God  has  really  become  merely  matter.  A  'God' 
who  is  not  personal  is  not  God  at  all." 

^  This  is  "  two  and  a  half  times  what  it  was  in  1901,  and  six  times  that  of 
1891." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   RADHASOAMIS  AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

PROBABLY  the  reader  is  by  this  time  quite  tired  of  Hindu 
reformers  and  all  their  works;  in  spite  of  which  I  mean  to 
devote  one  more  chapter  to  them.  For  I  have  found  the  two 
movements,  the  names  of  which  I  have  put  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter,  of  considerable  interest;  and  moreover,  one  of  them  is 
almost  unknown  in  the  West,  while  the  other  has  exercised  a 
specially  dominant  influence  on  the  developing  thought  of 
modern  India. 

The  new  religion  now  making  considerable  head  in  the 
United  Provinces  under  the  name  the  "Radhasoami  Faith" 
is  a  very  different  kind  of  reform  movement  from  the  two 
Samajes,  yet  in  some  respects  is  even  more  typically  Indian 
than  they.  It  is  interesting  as  a  living  example  of  the  type  of 
reform  that  so  often  arose  in  India  before  the  influence  of 
Christianity  was  felt  in  the  land.  It  is  purely  religious  in  na- 
ture with  no  active  social  programme  beyond  a  mild  disap- 
proval of  caste  restrictions;  it  recognizes  but  one  God  and  no 
idols;  has  a  purified  form  of  worship  based  upon  an  elaborate 
psychology;  regards  its  founder  and  leaders  as  incarnations  of 
the  Divine;  and  aims  at  freeing  the  soul  from  the  flesh.  It  was 
founded  by  a  Government  employee  in  Agra,^  named  Shiva 
Dayal  Singh,  who  evidently  had  done  a  good  deal  of  inde- 
pendent thinking  and  felt  the  need  of  a  purer  form  of  worship, 
and  who  in  1861  made  the  discovery  that  he  was  an  incarna- 
tion of  the  Supreme  Being.  He  also  discovered  the  true  name 
of  the  Supreme  Being  and  many  other  important  and  interest- 
ing things,  some  of  which  shall  be  related  in  due  course.  As 
was  natural  in  India,  he  found  no  difficulty  in  persuading  a 
considerable  number  of  people  that  he  was  God  in  the  flesh, '^ 

'  So,  at  least,  I  was  informed  by  a  member  of  the  Satsang  in  Benares. 
According  to  Farquhar  he  was  a  banker. 

*  Such  things  need  not  seem  strange  to  us  Americans,  at  least,  when  we 
remember  Joseph  Smith,  Prophet  Elijah  Dowie,  and  the  "Holy  Ghost  and 
Us." 

213 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  thus  he  founded  the  new  church  and  became  its  guru  or 
"Maharaj."  When  he  died  in  1878  one  of  his  followers,  Rai 
Saligram  Saheb  Bahadoor  by  name,  whom  he  had  especially 
trained  for  the  position,  succeeded  him  as  Incarnation  of  God 
and  guru  (or  "Sant  Satguru")  of  the  religious  community, 
under  the  name  Huzoor  Maharaj.  This  man  was  Postmaster- 
General  of  the  Northwest  Provinces.^  He  published  the  two 
vernacular  books  (one  in  verse,  one  in  prose)  which  his  pre- 
decessor had  written,  and  wrote  several  himself  (one  of  them 
in  English),  and  died  in  1898,  passing  on  the  leadership  to 
Brahm  Sankar  Misra  (who  had  "manifested"  himself  in  1861). 
Misra  was  a  man  of  excellent  education,  holding  the  degree  of 
M.A.  from  the  Calcutta  University  and  possessed  of  a  clear 
and  pleasing  English  style.  He  was  for  a  time  an  employee  in 
the  office  of  the  Accountant-General  in  Allahabad,  and  wrote 
a  very  readable  book  in  English  on  the  Radhasoami  Faith. 
He  died  in  Benares  in  1907.  His  successor,  Madhava  Prasad, 
is  not  a  "Sant  Satguru"  or  absolute  incarnation  of  the  Su- 
preme, but  only  a  highly  advanced  adept.  He  makes  his  head- 
quarters in  Allahabad,  where  he  is  Chief  Superintendent  in 
the  office  of  the  Accountant-General.  The  new  movement 
has  steadily  grown  —  chiefly  in  the  United  Provinces  —  and 
claims  to  have  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  members.  In  point 
of  numbers,  therefore,  it  is  almost  on  an  equality  with  the 
Parsees. 

This  new  faith  claims  to  have  the  advantage  over  all  other 
religions  of  being  founded  on  "science"  and  perfectly  demon- 
strable. And  indeed,  if  reference  to  nerve  ganglia,  ions,  and 
positive  and  negative  poles  —  combined  with  excellent  English 

1  Rai  Saligram  seems  to  have  been  both  an  able  administrator  and  a 
really  spiritual  teacher.  Max  Muller  gives  a  short  account  of  him  in  his 
Life  of  Ramakrishna,  including  him  among  the  five  best-known  Mahat- 
mans  of  his  time,  along  with  Devendranath  Tagore,  Swami  Dayanand,  and 
Ramakrishna  himself.  He  writes  of  him  {op.  cit.,  p.  23),  in  1898,  just  before 
the  Guru  died:  "When  last  heard  of,  the  old  man  was  still  alive,  his  house 
besieged  every  day  by  large  numbers  of  persons  both  male  and  female,  who 
flock  there  from  different  parts  of  the  country.  He  holds  five  meetings  day 
and  night  for  the  purpose  of  imparting  religious  instruction,  so  that  he  has 
hardly  more  than  two  hours  left  for  sleep.  Everybody  is  welcome,  and  no 
distinction  is  made  between  Brahman  and  Sudra,  rich  and  poor,  good  and 
bad.  The  people  are  convinced  that  he  can  work  miracles,  but  he  himself 
regards  such  things  as  unbecoming,  and  below  his  dignity." 

214 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

—  prove  the  presence  of  science,  the  last  book  of  the  Maharajas 
is  strictly  scientific.  But  in  common  with  the  "Radhasoami 
Mat  Prakash"  of  the  second  Maharaj,  it  has  also  the  greater 
advantage  of  being  infallibly  inspired,  —  being  written  by  God 
himself  in  the  flesh.  A  brief  resume  of  the  teachings  of  these 
two  books  should  therefore  certainly  be  of  great  interest  to  the 
reader. 

God  is  the  source  or  ocean  of  all  force.  He  is  Spirit-Force  and 
from  Him  all  natural  forces  come.  He  permeates  the  universe 
as  sunlight  pervades  empty  space,  and  our  souls  are  part  of 
Him,  though  for  a  while  imprisoned  in  these  material  bodies. 
Now,  "if  the  faculty  of  hearing  is  sufficiently  developed  all 
force  currents  could  be  heard  as  sounds."  God  being  force  can 
therefore  be  heard ;  and  His  true  name  will  be  the  sound  made 
by  this  Supreme  Spirit-Force.  The  gurus  of  the  new  religion 
are  able  to  hear  this  sound  and  tell  us  what  it  is.  "The  sound 
in  articulate  speech  of  the  spirit-current  is  'Radha,'  and  that 
of  the  spiritual  focus  or  reservoir  is  'Soami.'  Radhasoami  is 
accordingly  held  to  be  the  true  and  real  name  of  the  Supreme 
Creator,  and  its  sound,  which  resounds  in  the  innermost  quar- 
ter of  all  regions,  can  be  heard  by  a  devotee  of  the  Radhasoami 
sect  when  the  faculty  of  hearing  inherent  in  his  spirit  is  devel- 
oped by  the  process  of  devotional  practice  prescribed  by  the 
Radhasoami  Faith."  ^ 

There  are  in  the  universe  three  spheres.  The  highest  of 
these  is  pure  spirit  and  in  it  dwells  Radhasoami  (though  pres- 
ent by  his  force-currents  everywhere);  the  second,  known  as 
"Brahmand,"  is  "spiritual-material";  the  third  is  "material- 
spiritual."  Each  of  these  has  six  subdivisions.  In  the  last 
dwells  man  —  an  immortal  soul,  or  eternal  and  divine  spark, 
in  a  material  body.  Man  is  a  microcosm  of  the  universe  and 
has  six  principal  nerve  ganglia,  corresponding  to  the  six  di- 
visions of  each  sphere.  His  spirit,  which  is  distinct  from  his 
mind,  has  its  seat  (Shades  of   Descartes!)  on  the  highest  of 

1  From  the  report  of  "  Maharaj  Saheb"  (Brahm  Sankar  Misra)  to  the 
Census  Office,  printed  as  an  appendix  to  his  book,  Discourses  on  the  Radha- 
soami Faith  (Benares,  Radha  Soami  Satsang,  1909),  p.  303.  It  is  said  that 
in  their  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Name  and  its  importance  the  Radhasoamis 
have  been  influenced  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Word  or  Logos  in  St.  John's 
Gospel. 

215 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

these,  namely,  the  pineal  gland —  "midway  between  the  two 
eyes,  three  quarters  of  one  inch  from  the  root  of  the  nose  in- 
wards." From  this  headquarters  it  perceives  through  the 
various  sense-organs  by  sending  out  force-currents  to  them. 
But  it  also  has  relations  with  the  upper  worlds.  "  In  the  fissure 
between  the  two  lobes  of  the  brain  are  twelve  apertures  which 
provide  the  means  of  communication  with  the  six  subdivisions 
of  Brahmand  and  of  the  purely  spiritual  region.  The  apertures 
appertaining  to  Brahmand  are  to  be  found  in  the  gray  matter, 
and  those  appertaining  to  the  purely  spiritual  region  in  the 
white  matter."  ^  If  man  fails  to  make  use  of  these  channels 
for  communion  with  the  upper  worlds  he  must  continue  to  be 
born  again  and  again  indefinitely  —  for  the  new  revelation 
teaches  the  old  doctrine  of  transmigration.  But  the  aim  of 
man  is  to  become  free  from  the  chains  of  the  flesh  and  at 
length  to  attain  to  pure  spirituality  and  to  return  to  God  who 
is  our  home. 

A  moral  life  is,  of  course,  essential  to  attaining  this  aim,  but 
it  is  only  the  first  step.  Certain  methods  for  enabling  the  soul 
to  quit  the  body  temporarily,  or  hold  communion  with  the 
upper  spheres  during  this  present  life,  are  taught  by  the  new 
faith,  and  the  practice  of  these,  carried  on  through  this  and 
several  more  incarnations,  will  enable  the  individual  at  length 
to  win  perfect  spiritual  freedom  from  all  body.  To  learn  these 
methods  there  is  need  of  a  guru  who  is  himself  in  communica- 
tion with  one  of  the  upper  worlds.  There  have  been  many  such 
gurus  or  adepts;  but  there  were  never  any  incarnations  until, 
the  ground  for  the  spiritual  regeneration  of  man  having  been 
prepared  by  the  advent  of  these  various  lesser  gurus  and 
adepts,  Radhasoami  sent  down  rays  from  his  very  self  which 
assumed  human  form  in  the  first  Maharaj.  The  Radhasoami 
Faith  must  therefore  not  be  considered  in  any  sense  a  reform 
or  an  offshoot  of  Hinduism,  or  as  in  any  way  a  product  of  hu- 
man traditions  or  cogitations.  Says  the  second  Sant  Satguru 
in  his  authoritative  work,  "The  Radhasoami  Faith  is  not 
built  on  the  basis  of  scriptures  appertaining  to  Hindu  or  any 
other  religion,  but  on  the  precepts  or  instructions  of  the  Su- 
preme Being  Himself,  Who  appeared  on  this  earth  in  human 
1  The  Radhasoami  Faith,  p.  65. 
216 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

form  and  graciously  performed  the  functions  of  a  Sant  Sat- 
guru  for  the  benefit  of  degraded  humanity."  ^  Such  an  incar- 
nation is  a  kind  of  focus  of  the  divine  rays  and  "carries  on,  by 
the  deit>''s  direct  impulse,  the  work  appertaining  to  the  ob- 
ject for  which  the  incarnation  was  ordained."  There  have  been 
but  three  such  incarnations,  namely,  the  three  Maharajas  of 
the  Radhasoami  Faith.  They  alone  of  religious  teachers  come 
directly  from  the  first  or  purely  spiritual  region.  "All  [other] 
extant  religions  have  for  their  goal  the  second  or  spiritual- 
material  region  which  is  subject  to  decay  and  dissolution. 
This  region  is  not  clearly  mentioned  in  the  tenets  of  the  extant 
religions,  but  allusions  and  hints  about  it  are  to  be  found  in 
their  holy  books.  Only  one  initiated  in  esoteric  teachings  can 
comprehend  these  hints.  But  such  adepts  are  very  rare,  and 
only  those  initiated  in  the  Radhasoami  Faith  can  at  present 
understand  the  esoteric  teachings  of  all  other  religions  also, 
and  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  attitude  of  each."  - 

The  importance  of  a  living  guru  to  aid  the  disciple  in  ascend- 
ing to  these  dizzy  heights  is  now  plain.  The  Radhasoamis 
think  (and  with  good  reason)  that  the  Sikhs  and  the  followers 
of  Kabir  have  degenerated  just  because  they  have  so  long  been 
without  a  living  guru ;  and  they  are  determined  to  profit  by  the 
mistakes  of  their  predecessors  and  never  be  any  length  of  time 
without  an  incarnation  of  the  Deity  or  at  least  an  adept  who 
has  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  second  spiritual  sphere.  "The 
ascension  of  a  spirit  from  its  ordinary  seat  to  higher  planes  is 
possible  only  when  a  living  adept  is  present.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  the  disciple  must  always  be  in  the  personal  company  of 
the  adept.  So  long  as  the  adept  is  alive,  his  spirituality  is  ki- 
netic on  higher  planes  and  he  can  extend  help  even  when  the 
disciple  is  away  from  him  at  a  distance."  ^ 

There  are  three  great  methods  by  which  the  soul  may  begin 
its  ascent  toward  the  upper  regions.  These  are  "  (i)  utterance 
of  the  spiritual  name  by  the  spirit-current;  (2)  contemplation 
of  the  spiritual  form;  and  (3)  attentively  listening  to  the  spir- 
itual sound."    Each  of  these  methods  is  based  on  "Science." 

1  Rai  Saligram  Bahadur,  Radhasoami  Mat  Prakash  (Beaares,  Chandra- 
prabha  Press,  1896),  p.  13. 

2  The  Radhasoami  Faith,  pp.  309-10.  *  Ibid.,  p.  123. 

217 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Since  ever>'  force  has  its  sound,  by  reproducing  the  sound  of  a 
spirit-force  we  may  gain  some  of  the  power  of  that  force  and 
by  tuning,  as  it  were,  our  soul  and  body  to  that  sound  we  may 
put  ourselves  into  harmony  with  it.  My  exposition  here  I  con- 
fess is  very  unscientific,  but  the  interested  reader  will  consult 
the  sources.  The  effects  to  be  attained  by  proper  repetition  of 
the  holy  syllables  are  certainly  remarkable.  "All  obstacles 
thrown  in  the  way  and  traps  laid  by  Universal  Mind  and 
Matter  to  stop  or  interfere  with  the  progress  of  a  pilgrim  to 
the  high  mansions  of  the  Supreme  Being  in  pure  spiritual  re- 
gions disappear  at  once  on  the  pronunciation  of  the  Holy 
Name  Radhasoami  by  the  devotee;  such  is  the  immediate  ef- 
fect and  beneficial  influence  exercised  by  this  Almighty  Name. 
It  at  once  strikes  awe  and  terror  in  the  heart  of  the  conflict- 
ing agents  and  revolting  forces  met  with  by  the  devotee  while 
traversing  the  material  regions  and  gradually  removes  them 
altogether  from  his  path."  ^  As  to  the  second  of  the  methods 
—  contemplation  —  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  we  grow  like 
that  which  we  willingly  contemplate,  and  also  that  spiritual 
facts  get  themselves  recorded  in  facial  expression.  "The  out- 
ward marks  are  specially  noticeable  on  the  forehead  and  in  the 
eyes  of  an  adept,  and  the  effect  of  these  marks  on  advanced 
devotees  in  producing  concentration  and  sublimation  of  spirit 
is  very  remarkable."  And  the  effect  of  contemplating  an  in- 
carnation is,  of  course,  doubly  great.  Hence  the  practice  of 
gazing  at  the  Maharaj,  or,  during  an  interregnum,  at  the 
pictures  of  past  Maharajas.  The  third  method  —  that  of  lis- 
tening attentively  to  the  spiritual  sound  —  is  the  most  diffi- 
cult of  the  three,  and  only  the  more  advanced  can  really  suc- 
ceed in  hearing  it.  Yet  it  is  quite  possible;  for  Radhasoami, 
"the  true  Name,  is  present  everywhere  in  creation  and  can 
be  heard  at  the  innermost  plane  where  the  spirit-current  is 
acting.  As  each  ray  from  the  sun  carries  with  it  the  constitu- 
tional components  of  the  sun,  similarly  the  prime  action  by 
focus  and  current,  which  are  the  constitutional  components 
of  creation  in  the  beginning,  is  carried  in  the  tiniest  ray  of 
spirit,  and  the  sound,  Radhasoami,  could  be  heard  in  minia- 
ture if  we  could  penetrate  the  surrounding  layers  and  reach  the 
1  Radhasoami  Mat  Prakash,  p.  2. 
2l8 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

innermost  quarter  occupied  by  the  spirit-ray."  ^  There  is 
something  rather  beautiful  in  this  conception  that,  were  the 
hearing  of  our  spirit  not  deadened  by  its  enwrapping  mortal 
coil,  we  should  hear  everywhere  throughout  the  universe  whis- 
pered the  name  of  God. 

"There's  not  the  smallest  orb  which  thou  beholdest 
But  in  his  motion  like  an  angel  sings, 
Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubins; 
Such  harmony  is  in  immortal  souls; 
But  whilst  this  muddy  vesture  of  decay 
Doth  grossly  close  it  in,  we  cannot  hear  it." 

There  are  centers  of  the  Radhasoami  Faith  at  Agra,  Allaha- 
bad, and  Benares.  Their  building  in  the  latter  city  is  one  of 
the  most  prominent  in  town.  It  is  situated  in  a  beautiful  gar- 
den, which  is  carefully  and  tastefully  kept  up.  The  building 
itself  consists  of  a  large  hall,  with  a  screened  gallery  at  one  end 
and  a  marble  platform  at  the  other  —  in  short,  it  has  much  the 
appearance  of  a  Protestant  church.  There  are,  of  course,  no 
idols  or  anything  of  the  sort,  the  room  being  quite  bare  except 
for  large  pictures  of  the  three  departed  gurus.  The  ashes  of  the 
last  of  the  three  rest  beneath  the  marble  platform  from  which 
he  used  to  teach;  while  at  the  sides  of  the  platform  are  two 
small  rooms  each  of  which  contains  his  picture  and  also  a  large 
divan.  On  these  divans  the  late  guru  used  to  sit,  in  Oriental 
fashion,  while  teaching  the  inner  circle  of  his  disciples,  and 
hence  they  are  regarded  as  being  full  of  spiritual  magnetism 
and  as  sending  out  ethereal  vibrations. 

Twice  a  day  the  faithful  gather  in  this  hall  for  public  service 
—  at  morning  and  evening.  The  women  sit  in  the  screened 
galler>',  the  men  on  the  floor,  and  one  of  their  number,  stand- 
ing at  the  reading-desk  on  the  floor,  reads  to  them  from  some 
inspired  book  written  by  one  of  the  great  gurus.  For  as  I  have 
said,  though  they  reverence  the  Vedas  they  regard  only  the 
writings  of  the  incarnations  of  Radhasoami  as  really  inspired 
and  authoritative.  No  one  but  the  guru  may  teach  from  the 
platform  and  the  present  guru  is  at  Allahabad.  The  following 

1  The  Radhasoami  Faith,  p.  152.  The  details  of  the  three  methods  as 
actually  practiced  are  not  made  public,  but  are  divulged  to  members  of  the 
sect  on  initiation. 

219 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

description  of  a  service  at  which  the  guru  presides  is  from  the 
inspired  pen  of  the  last  guru  himself:  — 

"The  service  commences  with  the  recitation,  in  which  all 
the  members  of  the  congregation  can  take  part,  of  certain  holy 
pieces  which  contain  a  grateful  expression  of  the  immense 
spiritual  benefit  conferred  by  the  gracious  Supreme  Creator 
in  revealing  the  true  path  of  salvation.  .  .  .  The  service  closes 
with  another  recitation  of  the  description  given  above,  but  the 
subject-matter  of  the  holy  pieces  is  different.  .  .  .  The  holy 
books  compiled  by  the  Saints  are  also  read  out.  Such  portions 
of  these  books  as  do  not  admit  of  easy  comprehension  are  ex- 
plained by  the  presiding  adept,  or  made  the  text  of  a  holy  dis- 
course. Other  discourses  also  are  frequently  delivered.  .  .  . 
While  the  books  are  being  read  out  the  members  of  the  congre- 
gation are  simultaneously  attentive,  to  some  extent,  to  their 
devotional  practice,  especially  of  contemplation,  which  is 
rendered  easy  in  consequence  of  the  inspired  subject-matter  of 
the  holy  books  they  are  listening  to.  Concurrently  with  this, 
the  process  for  the  purification  of  mind  and  the  eradication  of 
evil  desires  is  also  at  work.  The  root  of  all  evils  is  ignorance. 
In  the  presence  of  a  Saint  this  ignorance  is  dispelled  to  some 
extent,  and  his  serene  and  sacred  company  is  at  times  alone 
sufficient  to  disclose  the  shortcomings  of  the  members  of  the 
congregation,  and  to  generate  true  contrition.  ,  .  .  The  sur- 
roundings of  the  satsang  [the  meeting],  the  presence  of  the 
adept  and  his  discourses,  produce  also  great  effect  upon  the 
faculty  of  religious  emotion,  and  as  the  devotee  makes  prog- 
ress in  his  spiritual  practice,  gradually  the  satsang  affords  such 
exquisite  emotional  ecstasies  to  him  that  all  pleasures  of  this 
world  dwindle  into  insignificance  and  the  entire  service  is  one 
of  engrossing  rapture.  .  .  .  The  presiding  adept  is  sometimes 
garlanded  before  the  commencement  of  the  service,  and  gar- 
lands sanctified  by  his  touch  are  distributed  to  the  members 
of  the  congregation.  Sweets  or  some  other  light  article  of 
food  are  also  sometimes  distributed  after  sanctification  by 
the  adept.  They  constitute,  as  it  were,  the  sacrament  of  the 
satsang."  ^ 

For  an  elect,  inner  circle  there  are  additional  means  of 
1  The  Radhasoami  Faith,  pp.  125-30. 
220 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

spiritual  assistance.  "Articles  of  food  left  in  the  dishes  after 
an  adept  has  finished  his  meals,  clothes  and  garments  worn  by 
him,  and  the  water  used  for  the  ablution  of  his  feet,  are  con- 
sidered to  be  highly  spiritualized,  and  used  by  such  of  the  dis- 
ciples as  get  an  opportunity  to  obtain  them.  Disciples  are  also 
sometimes  allowed  to  touch  the  feet  of  an  adept  with  their 
forehead,  the  object  being  that  the  spirituality,  which  is  more 
or  less  flowing  out  from  the  feet  of  the  adept,  might  be  imbibed 
by  them.  ...  At  times  disciples  are  permitted  to  gaze  intently 
at  the  eyes  of  an  adept,  and  he  also  directs  his  gaze  similarly  at 
the  eyes  and  forehead  of  the  devotees  engaged  in  this  practice. 
.  .  .  The  spiritual  concentration  during  such  moments  is  very 
great,  and  the  devotees  who  are  performing  this  practice  are 
filled  within  themselves  with  rapturous  bliss."  - 

Only  the  more  advanced  may  enjoy  the  great  privilege  of 
using  the  water  in  which  an  adept  has  bathed  his  feet;  but  ad- 
mission to  the  outer  circle  of  membership  is  open  to  all,  with- 
out reference  even  to  caste.  The  Radhasoami  Faith  has  room 
even  for  the  despised  sweeper,  and  within  its  hospitable  walls 
distinctions  of  birth  are  thrown  aside  and  only  spirituality 
counts.  "The  only  conditions  required  for  embracing  the 
Radhasoami  religion  are  abstinence  from  meat  and  animal 
food  and  liquor  and  all  intoxicating  drugs,  and  a  conviction 
that  the  goal  of  the  Radhasoami  Faith  is  the  only  true  goal  of 
true  and  perfect  salvation." 

Yet  the  sect  makes  no  active  attack  upon  caste  or  upon  any 
other  social  evil.  The  morahty  which  it  preaches  is  pure  but 
is  of  a  decidedly  negative  nature.  This  is  rather  forcibly 
brought  out  in  the  late  guru's  second  report  to  the  Census 
Bureau,  in  which  he  says:  "The  moral  code  of  the  Radha- 
soami Faith  consists,  so  far  as  our  actions  toward  others  are 
concerned,  in  withholding  ourselves  from  such  acts  as  we 
would  that  others  should  not  do  to  us." 

The  truth  is,  the  Radhasoamis  are  emphatically  Quietists. 
Mystic  cultivation  of  their  ovsti  souls  is  their  great  aim,  and 
active  social  work  is  regarded  as  dangerous.  The  writer  of  the 
Prefator>'  Note  in  the  book  from  which  I  have  so  often  quoted 
tells  us  that  "Maharaj  Saheb  [the  late  guru]  always  impressed 
1  The  Radhasoami  Faith,  pp.  130-32. 
221 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

upon  the  members  of  the  RadhasoamI  Faith  the  necessity  of 
abstaining  from  taking  part  in  pubHc  assemblies  (especially 
political  ones),  as  such  participation  would  always  result  in 
some  spiritual  loss."  ^  And  the  guru  himself  gives  us  as  the  one 
great  evil  consequence  of  eating  animal  food  the  fact  that  "it 
generates  outward  activity  and  energy"! 

This  point  of  view  was  so  characteristic  of  native  Indian  eth- 
ics before  it  was  influenced  by  Christianity  that  I  hope  I  shall 
be  pardoned  if  I  set  down  here  a  further  illustration  of  it  —  a 
conversation  I  had  with  a  member  of  the  Radhasoami  Faith. 
I  shall  put  it  down  in  the  form  of  question  and  answer  as  it 
actually  occurred :  — 

Q.  "  Does  your  religion  aid  in  the  moral  life?  " 

A.  "Yes,  greatly  —  by  helping  us  to  overcome  the  flesh.  A 
pure  life  is  the  prerequisite  of  progress  according  to  our  teach- 
ing." 

Q.  "Does  your  religion  tend  to  make  one  helpful  to  other 
people?  —  For  instance:  Yesterday  I  saw  a  little  girl  of  per- 
haps eight  who  danced  for  me.  She  will  almost  certainly  grow 
up  to  be  a  public  woman  unless  some  one  tries  to  save  her  from 
it.  Does  your  religion  teach  you  or  inspire  you  to  help  and 
save  that  little  girl?" 

A.  "Oh,  no.  That  sort  of  thing  is  very  secondary.  Our  re- 
ligion aims  at  the  one  thing  of  great  importance,  the  develop- 
ment and  salvation  of  soul.  We  believe  that  charity  begins  at 
home  —  and  this  not  in  a  selfish  sense.  We  cannot  help  others 
till  we  have  attained  to  a  high  spiritual  condition  ourselves, 
just  as  a  poor  man  must  first  become  rich  before  he  can  be  a 
benefactor.  Our  first  duty  is  to  save  our  own  souls;  and  this 
takes  all  our  time.  It  is  no  easy  thing  to  practice  our  system 
and  to  develop  our  souls,  and  it  requires  all  our  thought  and 
effort." 

Q.  "Have  any  of  you  —  even  your  gurus  —  developed  so 
far  that  they  have  had  time  for  such  things  as  I  have  men- 
tioned —  saving  little  girls?" 

A.  "The  little  girl  must  learn  by  trying  which  is  the  best 

way  —  though  of  course  she  might  be  told  the  truth  by  others. 

No  one  can  save  the  little  girl  but  herself.  She  will  learn  just 

^  Page  XV. 

222 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

as  the  child  learns  to  avoid  the  fire  —  by  putting  his  hand  in 
and  getting  burned.  [He  would  probably  have  added  that  in 
her  long  series  of  lives  she  would  have  plenty  of  opportunity 
for  learning  and  profiting  by  her  sad  experience.]  We  can  do 
nothing  for  her,  except  perhaps  point  out  the  laws  of  life  and 
the  effects  of  vice  and  virtue." 

Q.  "Do  you  do  this?  Do  you  make  any  attempts  at  prose- 
lyting and  communicating  your  fine  religion  to  others?  Do  you 
ever  actually  warn  the  Httle  girl?" 

A.  "We  do  no  public  preaching  or  proselyting.  When  peo- 
ple come  to  us  and  inquire  about  our  doctrines  we  gladly  an- 
swer their  questions.  And  we  offer  them  our  books  for  sale." 

Yet  I  fear  I  have  done  but  scant  justice  by  the  Radhasoamis. 
To  be  sure,  they  do  little  for  others  beyond  showing  them  an 
example  of  relatively  pure  and  peaceful  lives.  But  after  all,  is 
that  not  something?  And  with  all  their  pseudo-science  and 
their  strange  "spiritual"  methods,  they  do  at  least  nourish  a 
very  genuine  aspiration  after  a  purer,  nobler  life  than  they 
have  yet  found  in  themselves.  Sad,  is  it  not,  that  in  their 
search  for  an  ideal  who  shall  lift  them  above  themselves,  in 
their  longing  for  an  Incarnation  of  the  Divine,  they  can  see  no 
further  than  the  self-deluded  clerk  in  the  Government  Office 
at  Agra !  ^ 

1  In  all  fairness  to  the  followers  of  the  Radhasoami  Faith  I  ought  again  to 
warn  the  reader  against  the  natural  prejudice  with  which  we  Westerners  are 
likely  to  read  an  account  of  a  religion  so  strange  to  us  as  this  is.  I  should 
also  add  that  in  a  letter  which  I  recently  received  from  the  present  leader  of 
the  Faith  he  says,  among  other  things:  "  I  may  tell  you  at  the  outset  that 
we  are  not  at  all  interested  in  the  presentation  of  our  religion  in  a  book  deal- 
ing with  the  religions  of  India,  and  we  disclaim  all  responsibility  for  any- 
thing that  you  are  to  say  regarding  our  religion  in  the  book  you  are  writing. 
The  subject  is  so  vast  and  technical  that  it  requires  a  training  for  some  con- 
siderable time  followed  by  actual  experimentation  by  means  of  spiritual 
practices  before  one  can  be  expected  to  comprehend  and  appreciate  the 
teachings  of  our  religion  at  their  true  worth.  ...  At  present  we  doubt  very 
much  if  our  religion  will  be  sympathetically  and  appreciatively  received 
by  people  of  the  West." 

The  Radhasoami  Faith  may  seem  odd  to  most  of  us  and  downright 
silly  to  some;  but  let  not  our  Anglo-Saxon  pride  lead  us  into  saying,  with 
self-conscious  superiority,  "Lo  the  poor  Indian!"  The  very  newest  of  the 
"New  Thought"  of  our  up-to-date  West  is  capable  of  things  not  so  very 
diflFerent.  Thus  the  July  191 5  number  of  the  New  York  Key  to  Funda- 
mentals ;  A  Magazine  of  Revelations  of  the  Underlying  Principles  of  Nature, 
Life  and  Mind,  announces  that  "it  will  serve  as  a  guide  to  those  that  seek 

223 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

And  now,  if  the  reader's  patience  can  hold  out  a  little  longer, 
we  shall  soon  have  done  with  Hindu  reformers;  for  we  have 
only  one  more  to  consider,  a  reform  movement,  this,  inaugu- 
rated and  carried  on  by  Europeans,  who  quite  out-Hindu  the 
Hindus.  I  refer  to  the  Theosophical  Society,  commonly  known 
as  the  "T.  S."  The  Society  was  founded  in  the  same  year  as 
the  Arya  Samaj  —  1875  —  by  Madame  H.  P.  Blavatsky  and 
Colonel  H.  S.  Olcott,  two  rather  remarkable  personages,  both 
of  whom  were  convinced  that  the  fundamental  truths  about 
God  and  man  were  common  to  all  religions  and  that  these 
truths  were  capable  of  considerable  verification  by  means  of 
"occult  science."  Madame  Blavatsky  (commonly  referred  to  in 
Theosophical  circles  as  "H.  P.  B.")  was  particularly  noted  for 
her  writings  on  religious  and  occult  matters,  while  "H.  S.  O.," 
as  President  of  the  Society,  was  specially  active  in  the  move- 
ment to  interpret  and  build  up  the  ancient  religions  of  the 
East.  His  successor  as  President  of  the  T.  S.  to-day  is  Mrs. 
Annie  Besant,  and  the  Society  counts  over  a  thousand  active 
lodges  in  twenty-three  National  Sections,  sprinkled  all  over 
the  world  under  some  thirty  different  governments,  with  a 
total  membership  of  about  twenty-five  thousand. 

The  aims  of  the  Society  are  threefold:  "(i)  To  form  a  nu- 
cleus of  the  Universal  Brotherhood  of  Humanity,  without 
distinction  of  race,  creed,  sex,  caste  or  color;  (2)  to  encourage 
the  study  of  comparative  religion,  philosophy,  and  science; 
(3)  to  investigate  the  unexplained  laws  of  nature  and  the  pow- 
ers latent  in  man."  "The  Theosophical  Society  is  composed  of 
students  belonging  to  any  religion  in  the  world  or  to  none,  who 
are  united  by  their  approval  of  the  above  objects,  by  their 
wish  to  remove  religious  antagonisms,  and  to  draw  together 
men  of  good-will  whatsoever  their  religious  opinions,  and  by 
their  desire  to  study  religious  truths  and  to  share  the  results  of 
their  studies  with  others."  ^ 

psycho-spiritual  development  with  a  view  to  attaining  mastership  on  that 
plane  of  expression.  It  will  serve  as  the  organ  of  the  American  School  of 
Vibration.  Its  chief  distinction  will  be  its  suggestions  for  the  realization 
of  the  reciprocal  counterpoise  of  the  so-called  'normal*  or  material  plane 
of  activity,  and  of  the  super-normal  or  ethereal  plane  ...  by  imparting  a 
knowledge  of  the  Law  of  Inversion."  Surely  here  is  a  flower  that  might 
have  bloomed  from  the  Radhasoami  stalk! 

1  Information  for  Enquirers  (Adyar  T.  P.  S.,  1912). 
224 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

Theosophy  and  the  Theosophical  Society  are  not  inter- 
changeable terms.  Theosophy  is  the  teachings  of  the  T.  S.: 
but  not  all  members  of  the  Society  need  accept  them,  for  per- 
fect freedom  of  thought  is  always  encouraged.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  practically  all  members  of  the  T.  S.  agree  on  the 
more  fundamental  teachings  —  otherwise  they  would  hardly  be 
Theosophlsts.  As  these  teachings  are  closely  bound  up  with  the 
rehgions  of  India  a  word  or  two  should  be  said  concerning  them. 

"Theosophy  is  the  body  of  truths  which  forms  the  basis  of 
all  rehgions."  This  first  sentence  in  the  Society's  ofhcial  expo- 
sition of  Theosophy  gives  its  fundamental  point  of  view.  The 
implications  of  this  sentence  are  important.  There  are  certain 
fundamental  truths  on  which  all  religions  are  agreed,  and 
these  when  put  systematically  together  will  form  the  religious 
philosophy  of  Humanity,  which  is  Theosophy.  Says  Mrs. 
Besant  in  the  Introduction  to  her  "Universal  Textbook  of 
Religion  and  Morals":  "There  are  fundamental  doctrines, 
symbols,  rites,  precepts,  which  are  common  to  all,  while  the 
lesser  variants  are  innumerable.  It  thus  becomes  possible  to 
separate  the  essential  from  the  non-essential,  the  permanent 
from  the  transitory,  the  universal  from  the  local,  and  to  find 
qiiod  semper,  quod  ubique,  qtiod  ah  omnibus.  When  this  is  done 
we  have  remaining  a  fundamental  religious  and  moral  teaching 
which  may  fearlessly  be  given  to  the  young,  as  the  expression 
of  facts  concerning  God,  Man,  and  the  Universe  borne  witness 
to  by  the  elect  of  Humanity,  as  being  capable  of  verification  by 
all  who  reach  a  certain  spiritual  stage  of  evolution." 

This  is  certainly  a  ver>'  admirable  programme  and  every 
liberal-minded  religious  man  will  wish  the  T.  S.  God-speed  in 
carrj'ing  it  out  —  if  such  a  thing  be  possible.  The  Theoso- 
phlsts think  it  not  only  possible  but  already  easily  accom- 
plished; and  accordingly  Mrs.  Besant  presents  us  with  a  list  of 
propositions  as  the  creedal  points  of  Theosophy  which  all  re- 
ligions teach.  The  two  most  fundamental  of  these  are  the  im- 
manence of  God  in  man  and  the  brotherhood  of  all  men.  "  Its 
secondary'  teachings  are  those  which  are  the  common  teachings 
of  all  religions,  living  or  dead:  the  Unity  of  God;  the  tripUcity 
of  His  nature  in  manifestation;  the  descent  of  spirit  in  matter, 
and  hence  the  graded  ranks  of  Intelligences,  whereof  humanity 
225 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

is  one;  the  growth  of  humanity  by  the  unfoldment  of  con- 
sciousness and  the  evolution  of  bodies,  i.e.,  reincarnation;  the 
progress  of  this  growth  under  inviolable  law,  i.e..  Karma;  the 
environment  of  this  growth,  i.e.,  the  three  worlds,  the  physical, 
emotional,  and  mental,  or  earth,  the  intermediate  world,  and 
heaven;  the  existence  of  divine  Teachers,  superhuman  men, 
often  called  the  White  Brotherhood." 

Possibly  not  all  the  items  in  this  summary  are  perfectly 
clear  to  the  reader:  but  I  shall  simply  say  that  the  reincarna- 
tion and  Karma  of  the  T.  S.  are  merely  what  we  have  studied 
under  those  names  in  Hinduism;  that  the  White  Brotherhood 
is  that  "Occult  Hierarchy"  which  "governs  the  world"  and 
whose  members  occasionally  become  incarnate,  and  even  when 
not  incarnate  may  be  "found"  by  members  of  the  T.  S.  (it 
was,  in  fact,  one  of  them  residing  in  Thibet,  "  Koot  Hoomi "  by 
name,  who  revealed  Theosophy  to  Madame  Blavatsky,  and 
who  on  various  critical  occasions  has  sent  letters  and  telegrams 
to  the  leaders  of  the  Society  for  their  guidance);  and  as  to 
the  many  worlds,  there  are  seven  of  them  —  the  Physical,  As- 
tral, Heavenly,  Buddhic,  Atmic-Nirvanic,  Monadic,  and  the 
World  of  the  Logos.  The  last  two  of  these  Mrs.  Besant  says 
"are  so  far  above  our  present  power  of  conception  that,  for  the 
moment,  they  may  be  left  out  of  consideration"  (!).  But  the 
others,  and  in  fact  all  the  rest  of  the  teachings  of  the  T.  S. 
mentioned  above,  are  matters  "not  of  speculation  but  of  ob- 
servation and  experiment."  It  may  be  a  revelation  to  the 
reader  that  primitive  Animism  teaches  the  One  Spiritual  and 
Immanent  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  men ;  that  Islam  teaches 
the  Trinity;  that  Buddhism  teaches  the  Supreme  God  and  the 
eternal  identity  of  the  soul  with  Him;  and  that  Christianity 
teaches  transmigration  and  Karma.  The  truth  is,  this  recon- 
ciliation of  all  the  creeds  has  been  so  constructed  as  to  make  it 
appear  that  all  religions  are  mere  variants  upon  a  Vedantic 
Hinduism  with  an  occult  interpretation.  This,  at  least,  is  true 
of  the  Theosophy  of  the  Indian  section  with  which  alone  we 
are  here  concerned.  Christianity,  Islam,  Zoroastrlanism,  and 
"esoteric  Buddhism"  have  contributed  certain  superficial 
marks;  but  the  heart  of  Indian  Theosophy  is  a  kind  of  occult 
^nd  mystic  Hinduism. 

226 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  T.  S.  has  had  so  large  an  in- 
fluence in  India.  This  influence  has  been  in  many  respects 
admirable.  There  is  a  goodly  number  of  Theosophist  mis- 
sionaries in  India  who  have  gone  at  their  work  in  humble  and 
earnest  fashion ;  deeply  religious  souls  who  see  that  there  is  in 
Hinduism  much  that  may  be  made  ennobling,  and  who  are 
endeavoring  by  publications,  schools,  and  personal  influence 
to  reveal  to  Hindu  girls  and  boys,  men  and  women,  a  loftier 
outlook  and  a  purer  life  than  they  ever  caught  sight  of  before. 
These  Theosophist  missionaries  have  not  necessarily  ceased  to 
be  Christians;  but  they  feel  that  there  is  more  hope  of  success 
in  teaching  the  Indian  the  inner  meaning  and  the  spiritual  side 
of  the  rehgion  into  which  he  was  bom,  than  in  indoctrinating 
him  into  a  new  religion  which  is  foreign  to  his  land.  I  know 
some  of  these  earnest  souls  —  women  and  men  who  are  de- 
voting their  lives  to  the  humble  task  of  teaching  little  brown 
girls  and  boys  and  trying  to  make  them  into  men  and  women 
of  larger  vision  than  their  parents  were.  And  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  many  a  Hindu  to-day  is  a  more  intelligent  man  and 
a  better  man  because  of  the  work  of  the  Theosophical  Society. 
In  every  part  of  India  you  meet  with  men  who  will  tell  you 
that  their  first  insight  into  a  more  spiritual  interpretation  of 
the  rites  and  beliefs  of  their  native  religion  came  to  them 
through  some  Theosophist  or  through  reading  some  of  the 
periodicals  put  out  by  the  T.  S.  For  the  Society  publishes  sev- 
eral periodicals  of  an  educative  nature,  some  for  children,  some 
for  adults.  It  has  also  a  considerable  number  of  schools  ^  in 
which  systematic  education  in  the  better  side  of  Hinduism  is 
given  to  every  Hindu  pupil.  And  the  Central  Hindu  College 
at  Benares  (to  which  reference  has  already  been  made)  was 
until  the  spring  of  1913  a  Theosophist  institution. 

In  their  attempt  at  spiritualizing  Hinduism  the  Theoso- 
phists  are  naturally  led  into  an  imaginative  reconstruction  of 
the  past  and  a  symbolical  interpretation  of  texts  and  customs 
that  inevitably  rouse  the  wonder  of  the  uninitiated.  Krishna 
with  his  sixteen  thousand  concubines  is  made  into  an  angel  of 

1  The  Theosophical  Educational  Trust  (founded  in  April,  1913)  has 
under  its  management  fifteen  schools,  with  2,608  girls  and  boys,  and  122 
teachers.  Beside  these  (which  are  all  in  India)  the  Society  maintains  a 
large  number  of  schools  in  Burma. 

227 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

purity,  compared  with  whom  even  Buddha  and  Jesus  seem 
quite  inferior,  and  the  vilest  stories  are  twisted  into  moral 
tales;  for  symbolism  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins.  There 
would  be  no  great  harm  in  this,  perhaps,  if  the  matter  stopped 
here;  but  it  does  not.  In  their  enthusiasm  over  everything 
Hindu,  the  T.  S.  has  not  hesitated  to  defend  even  such  things 
as  polytheism,  idolatry,  shraddha,  and  various  beliefs  and 
rites  which  to  most  of  us  seem  hardly  elevating.  The  de- 
fense is  occasionally  psychological,  more  often  occult,  and  in 
many  cases  simply  authoritative.  If  one  is  to  understand  con- 
ditions in  India  to-day  it  is  important  to  realize  to  what  extent 
the  influential  Theosophical  Society  has  adopted  the  Hindu 
view  of  things  such  as  those  named  above  and  what  kind  of 
teachings  it  is  spreading  throughout  the  land.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, the  topic  on  which  the  T.  S.  lays  such  repeated  stress 
—  "vibrations"  and  "mantras."  The  Hindu  student  is  as- 
sured by  Mrs.  Besant  in  her  books  of  instruction  that  "mod- 
em science"  (together  with  the  eternal  Veda)  teaches  that  the 
soul  or  jiva  is  surrounded  by  various  sheaths  of  gross  and  sub- 
tle matter;  that  both  it  and  they  are  in  constant  motion  and 
are  ever  sending  out  vibrations  and  being  influenced  by  other 
vibrations;  and  that  the  recitation  of  certain  mantras  produces 
vibrations  that  have  most  marvelous  effects  on  all  sorts  of 
gross  and  subtle  matter  and  upon  the  welfare  of  souls  living 
and  dead.  "A  mantra  is  a  sequence  of  sounds,  and  these  sounds 
are  vibrations,  so  that  the  chanting,  loud  or  low,  or  the  silent 
repetition,  of  a  mantra  sets  up  a  certain  series  of  vibrations. 
.  .  .  The  forms  created  by  a  mantra  depend  on  the  notes  on 
which  the  mantra  is  chanted;  the  mantra,  as  it  is  chanted, 
gives  rise  to  a  series  of  forms  in  subtle  matter.  The  nature  of 
the  vibrations  —  that  is,  their  general  character,  whether  con- 
structive or  destructive,  whether  stimulating  love,  energ>%  or 
other  emotions  —  depends  on  the  words  of  the  mantra."  ^ 
It  follows,  of  course,  that  the  mantra  must  be  recited  in  its 
original  Sanskrit  form,  else  it  would  fail  to  produce  the  desired 
\dbrations.  The  mantras,  moreover,  must  be  chanted  at  cer- 
tain magically  favorable  times, ^  else  their  effect  is  considerably 

1  Advanced  Textbook  of  Hindu  Religion  and  Ethics,  pp.  i66,  167. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  216. 

228 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

reduced.  If  properly  recited  they  have  marvelous  effects;  and 
Mrs.  Besant  teaches  that  the  present  "great  loss  in  health 
and  vigor"  of  the  Indian  race  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that 
mantras  are  no  longer  chanted,  as  in  the  good  old  days,  over 
prospective  mothers  before  the  birth  of  their  children.^ 

The  souls  of  the  departed,  no  less  than  children  yet  unborn, 
may  be  reached  by  the  mar\-elous  vibrations  of  Vedic  mantras, 
as  well  as  by  other  traditional  Hindu  ceremonies.  Hence  the 
justification  of  funeral  and  shraddha  rites,  according  to  Mrs. 
Besant's  instruction  to  Hindu  boys  as  found  in  a  little  book  of 
hers  which  is  "intended  to  help  them  answer  the  attacks  lev- 
eled against  their  religion."  From  this  we  learn  that  the  fire 
which  consumes  the  physical  body  on  the  burning  ghat  also 
aids  in  breaking  up  the  "etheric  body";  and  "the  sacred  man- 
tras," which  form  a  part  of  the  cremation  ceremony,  "fill  the 
air  with  waves  of  energy  that  protect  and  calm  him  and  that 
loosen  the  clinging  etheric  body  so  that  it  falls  away  from 
him."  The  soul  is  now  a  "preta"  ("ghost  would  be  the  nearest 
English  equivalent,"  says  Mrs.  Besant);  and  here  the  shrad- 
dha ceremony  comes  in.  "The  vibrations  of  the  mantras  in 
the  subtle  matter  that  surrounds  us  are  like  waves  that  wash 
up  against  the  body  of  the  preta,  washing  away  the  coarser 
matter,  and  quickening  the  disintegration  of  the  preta  form. 
The  water  poured  out  with  mantras  and  magnetized  by  them 
imparts  its  helpful  magnetism  to  the  preta  form  also."  - 

In  similar  fashion  the  T.  S.  has  taken  up  the  defense  of 
idolatry'.  On  the  front  of  her  house  at  Benares  Mrs.  Besant 
has  a  large  Ganesha,  and  though  presumably  she  does  not 
worship  it  herself,  she  encourages  her  Hindu  followers  to  make 
use  of  images  of  the  gods  in  their  devotions.  She  assures  them 
that  the  contemplation  of  such  an  image  —  let  us  say  Hanu- 
man  or  Kali  or  a  lingam  —  will  help  them  to  concentrate  their 
minds  on  God.  But  the  chief  argument  for  idolatry  is  that  the 
idol  shares  some  of  the  "magnetism"  of  the  god  it  represents, 
once  the  proper  mantras  have  been  said  and  the  proper  liquids, 
etc.,  poured  over  it  by  "a.  highly  evolved  person"  such  as  a 

1  Advanced  Textbook  of  Hindu  Religion  and  Ethics,  p.  172. 

2  Reprinted  by  Mrs.  Besant  in  her  little  book  In  Defence  of  Hijlduism 
(Benares  T.  P.  S.),  pp.  33-37- 

229 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Brahmin  priest.  "You  don't,"  —  she  tells  the  Hindus, — 
"you  don't  take  an  ordinary  image  and  use  it  in  worship 
straightaway.  On  the  contrary,  you  subject  it  to  a  divine 
ceremony.  You  recite  over  it  certain  mantras,  you  use  certain 
objects,  you  pour  certain  liquids,  and  it  is  only  after  all  this 
ceremony  has  been  performed  that  the  image  becomes  sacred 
and  fit  to  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  worship.  .  .  .  Thus  you 
have  been  magnetizing  your  image."  ^  And  again:  "The  pure 
and  soothing  magnetism  spreads  around  it  [the  idol],  creating  a 
most  helpful  atmosphere.  .  .  .  Such  a  prepared  center  is  very 
readily  strengthened  and  revivified  by  the  Being  whose  mag- 
netism already  is  present  there,  and  the  prayer  or  meditation 
of  the  worshiper  drawing  His  attention,  He  sends  an  answering 
current  through  the  center  already  made."  ^ 

The  above  quotations  will  serve  as  an  indication  of  the 
attitude  of  the  Indian  Theosophical  Society  toward  what  most 
of  us  Westerners  in  our  blindness  are  in  the  habit  of  calling 
superstitions.  For  we,  unfortunately,  are  not  endowed  with 
Mrs.  Besant's  mystic  powers  of  investigation,  nor  are  we 
in  communication  with  Koot  Hoomi,  He  of  the  Great  White 
Brotherhood  residing  in  Thibet.  Probably  one  reason  for  Mrs. 
Besant's  acceptance  of  everything  Hindu  is  her  sublime  con- 
fidence in  the  revelations  of  "Occult  Science."  An  ineradicable 
hankering  after  the  occult  has  in  fact  been  the  passion  and  the 
bane  of  Theosophy  ever  since  its  birth.  One  would  suppose 
that  Richard  Hodgson's  exposure  of  Madame  Blavatsky's 
tricks '  would  have  been  enough  to  sicken  the  Theosophists 
of  that  sort  of  thing;  but  apparently  it  had  very  little  effect, 
at  least  in  India.  Veneration  for  H.  P.  B.  is  still  as  profound 
as  ever,  and  the  longing  for  the  super-normal,  super-physical, 
super-natural,  super-everything  is  still  unsatisfied.  Mrs.  Besant 
is  no  trickster,  but  she  has  the  same  appetite  for  the  hyper- 

1  "Speeches  at  Trivandrum,"  quoted  by  Farquhar,  Crown  of  Hinduism, 
p.  336. 

2  In  Defence  of  Hinduism,  p.  5.  Mrs.  Besant  adds:  "Any  one  who  has 
studied  magnetism  according  to  the  European  methods  will  at  once  see  this 
aspect  of  an  idol,  and  will  recognize  the  scientific  wisdom  of  the  Eastern 
Sages  in  sanctioning  the  use  of  images." 

3  See  "Report  of  the  Committee  appointed  to  investigate  Phenomena 
connected  with  the  Theosophical  Society,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,  vol.  Hi  (London,  Trubner,  1885),  pp.  201-400. 

230 


THE   RADHASOAMIS   AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

physical  that  distinguished  her  predecessor.  She  is  ambitious 
of  developing  telepathic  powers,  and  in  fact  has  become  an 
adept  in  reading  the  thoughts  of  the  people  on  Mars.  Very 
wisely  she  confines  her  attention  to  Mars,  and  specializes  only 
in  long-distance  telepathy.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  T.  S. 
in  Benares  last  year,  I  heard  her  declare  (with  great  solemnity 
and  amid  loud  applause)  that  the  Veda  was  eternal ;  that  the 
Upanishads  were  brought  into  India  by  the  "Toltecs,"  the  an- 
cient inhabitants  of  the  sunken  continent  of  Atlantis,  at  the 
time  when  India  was  raised  from  the  bed  of  the  ocean;  and  that 
she  knew  this  because  "occult  research"  had  "recovered"  a 
large  part  of  "the  ancient  Toltec  literature." 

If  the  reader  is  interested  to  learn  more  of  the  "results  of 
occult  research,"  he  will  be  able  to  satisfy  the  most  rapacious 
appetite  in  a  book  recently  issued  by  Mrs.  Besant  and  Mr. 
C.  W.  Leadbeater  entitled  "Man,  Whence,  Why,  and  Whither. 
A  Record  of  Clairvoyant  Investigation."  ^  This  book  contains 
the  history  of  the  universe  from  the  earliest  times  onward. 
A  few  sentences  from  it,  taken  entirely  at  haphazard,  will 
indicate  its  nature:  — 

"On  Mars  in  the  fourth  Round  we  find  a  number  of  savages 
who  had  not  been  sufficiently  advanced  to  leave  that  globe 
for  the  Earth  when  the  mass  of  the  egos  went  on  in  the  pre- 
ceding Round.  .  .  .  Mars  in  the  fourth  Round  felt  a  scarcity 
of  water  and  it  was  the  Lords  of  the  Moon  who  planned  out 
the  system  of  canals,"  etc. 

"The  civilization  of  Peru  in  the  thirteenth  millennium  B.C. 
so  closely  resembled  that  of  the  Toltec  Empire  in  its  zenith 
that,"  etc. 

"From  the  small  beginning  of  60,000  B.C.  there  gradually 
grew  up  a  thickly  populated  kingdom  which  surrounded  the 
Gobi  Sea.  .  .  .  This  was  the  root-stock  of  all  Aryan  nations, 
and  from  it  went  out  —  from  40,000  B.C.  onwards  —  the  great 
migrations  which  formed  the  sub- Aryan  races." 

Having  at  last  got  the  universe  up  to  the  year  191 3  a.d., 

Mrs.  Besant's  clairvoyant  powers  seem  to  be  exhausted.   But 

not  so  Mr.  Leadbeater's.    The  distant  future  offers  no  more 

difficulties  to  him  than  the  thirteenth  millennium  B.C.;  and 

»  Published  by  the  T.  P.  S.,  1913. 

231 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

throughout    Part    III    (entitled     "Whither")    he  takes   his 
prophetic  course,  while  nations  fall  and  continents  subside,  — 

"Unhurt  amid  the  wars  of  elements, 
The  wrecks  of  matter,  and  the  crush  of  worlds."  * 

The  most  interesting  part  of  the  book  to  me  is  the  Preface, 
for  this  describes  the  method  by  which  the  "research  work" 
was  carried  on.   Mrs.  Besant  writes:  — 

"The  research  work  was  done  at  Adyar  in  the  summer  of 
1910;  in  the  heat  of  the  summer  many  of  the  students  were 
away,  and  we  shut  ourselves  up  so  as  to  be  uninterrupted,  for 
five  evenings  every  week;  we  observed  and  said  exactly  what 
we  saw,  and  two  members  were  good  enough  to  write  down  all 
we  said  exactly  as  we  said  it.  In  order  to  throw  ourselves  back 
into  the  earliest  stages  we  sought  for  our  own  consciousness, 
present  there,  and  easier  to  start  from  than  anything  else, 
since  no  others  were  recognizable.  They  gave  us,  as  it  were, 
a  footing  in  the  first  as  second  chains."  And  she  adds,  with 
a  truthfulness  that  surely  no  one  can  dispute:  "Work  of  this 
kind  might  be  done  ad  lihitum  if  there  were  people  to  do  it." 

After  reading  things  of  this  sort  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn 
that  the  T.  S.  is  losing  its  hold  on  many  of  its  more  intelligent 
members.  Already  in  1895  a  large  portion  of  the  American 
Theosophists  had  left  the  Society  and  founded  an  independent 
organization  known  as  the  "Universal  Brotherhood  and 
Theosophical  Society."  The  rebellion  was  led  by  Mr.  Judge, 
formerly  Vice-President  of  the  T.  S.,  who  upon  Madame 
Blavatsky's  death  was  favored  with  a  large  number  of  letters 
from  the  Great  White  Brotherhood  in  Thibet,  indicating  him 
as  the  suitable  President  of  the  Society  in  place  of  Colonel 
Olcott;  but  the  Colonel,  who  was  very  familiar  with  the  hand- 
writing of  the  Thibetan  Sages,  insisted  that  Judge's  letters 
were  forgeries;  and  there  was  nothing  left  for  the  former  Vice- 
President  to  do  but  form  a  new  Society  of  his  own  and  get 
what  comfort  he  could  from  the  love-letters  of  Koot  Hoomi 
and  his  Thibetan  Brothers.    In  1909  another  split  in  the  T.  S. 

1  Prophecy  is  not  a  new  development  in  the  T.  S.  The  great  H.  P.  B.  set 
the  example  in  her  famous  book,  "The  Secret  Doctrine,"  in  which  new 
"sub-races"  and  "root-races"  through  "long  millenniums"  arise  and  play 
their  parts  before  the  eyes  of  those  enlightened  by  Theosophic  vision. 

232 


THE   RADHASOAMIS  AND   THEOSOPHISTS 

occurred,  some  seven  hundred  British  Theosophists  with- 
drawing from  the  Society  in  protest  against  the  readmission 
of  Mr.  Leadbeater,  who  four  years  previously  had  been  ex- 
pelled because  of  various  immoral  teachings  and  practices  of 
which  he  had  been  found  guilty.^  And  quite  recently  nearly 
all  the  German  Theosophists,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr. 
Rudolf  Steiner,  have  broken  away  and  founded  an  independ- 
ent organization,  the  " Anthroposophical  Society."  Even  in 
the  Indian  Section  the  feeling  of  discontent  and  criticism  is 
present, 2  and  it  has  been  brought  to  a  climax  by  Airs.  Besant's 
recent  attempt  to  present  Hinduism  with  a  new  Messiah  in 
the  form  of  a  rather  commonplace  native  boy,  whose  father 
had  entrusted  him  to  her  charge,  and  whom  she  had  entrusted 
to  Mr.  Leadbeater  for  education.  Her  surprising  revelation 
that  this  young  gentleman  was  the  latest  representative  of 
the  Deity  carried  occultism  too  far  for  even  the  patient  In- 
dian. 

Thus  the  influence  of  the  Theosophical  Society-  has  suffered 
a  great  check.  Its  most  important  institution,  the  Central 
Hindu  College,  has  declared  its  independence.  Many  of  the 
ablest  and  most  important  Indian  Theosophists  are  sadly 
abandoning  the  Society.  And  it  would  hardly  be  surprising 
if  we  should  find  patriotic  Hindus  devoutly  praying  to  all  their 
gods  that  the  T.  S.,  together  with  the  writings  of  H.  P.  B.  and 
H.  S.  O.  —  yes,  and  even  those  of  A.  B.  and  C.  W.  L. — 
might  be  wafted  sweetly  and  swiftly  on  occult  breezes  to  the 
land  of  the  ancient  Toltecs. 

For  in  spite  of  the  unmistakable  good  that  the  Theosophical 
Society  has  done  in  India  its  influence  has  had  two  results  that 
are  quite  as  unmistakably  evil.  In  the  first  place,  at  this  time 
when  India  is  just  awakening  to  modem  thought  and  is  in 
such  need  of  careful  guidance,  Theosophy  has  not  only  en- 
couraged most  of  its  old  superstitions,  but  has  taught  it  to 
identify  science  with  obscurantism  and  occultism  and  to 
found  the  new  structure  of  its  faith  on  those  very  shifting 

*  See  Farquhar's  Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India,  pp.  268-70,  274. 

2  A  Bengalee  Brahmin,  whose  opinion  of  Theosophy  I  asked,  answered 
with  a  smile:  "It  has  done  something  for  the  less  intelligent  Hindus:  but 
really  Theosophy  is  child's  play." 

233 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

sands.  And  what  is  perhaps  more  dangerous  still,  in  its  blind 
effort  to  attack  "materialism"  it  has  brought  the  spirit  into 
contempt  and  derision  by  spreading  abroad  the  view  that 
"spirituality"  means  a  belief  in  psychic  planes,  vibrations, 
magnetism,  and  mantras.  Surely  not  thus  shall  we  triumph 
over  "materialism."  Surely  not  such  is  the  message  that  shall 
set  the  spirit  free. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  KABIR  PANTHIS  AND  THE  SIKHS 

THE  reader  of  ^fEschylus's  "Agamemnon"  will  recall  how 
the  news  of  the  fall  of  Troy  was  flashed  by  signal  fires 
on  mountain-tops  all  around  the  iEgean,  from  Mount  Ida,  by 
way  of  Lemnos,  Athos,  Cithseron,  and  many  another  height, 
until  at  last  it  reached  the  summit  of  Arachne  and  the  royal 
palace  in  Argos.  In  fashion  no  less  striking  surely  has  the 
torch  of  spiritual  insight  been  handed  down  through  the 
generations  of  men.  We  all  know  how  true  this  has  been  of 
Greece,  Israel,  and  the  modern  West;  and  in  India  also  the 
same  story  has  been  repeated  through  the  ages.  The  spiritual 
light  first  kindled  in  the  Upanishads  has  leaped  across  dark 
centuries  from  peak  to  blazing  peak,  speaking  ever  in  words 
of  flame  the  same  eternal  message  which  India  has  loved  so 
well. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  saw  how  the  teachings  of  the  Upan- 
ishads were  systematized  by  Shankara  in  the  ninth  century, 
and  in  the  eleventh  century  united  by  Ramanuja  with  the  more 
theistic  doctrines  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita.  Ramanuja's  is  one  of 
the  greatest  names  in  all  the  history  of  "bhakti"  —  that  in- 
tense personal  devotion  for  a  personal  God  which  has  had  so 
much  more  influence  over  the  Indian  people  than  even  the 
orthodox  philosophy  of  Shankara,  and  which  (despite  many 
points  of  controversy)  shares  with  the  more  abstruse  Vedanta 
that  most  basal  of  all  Indian  conceptions,  the  union  of  the 
human  soul  with  the  Divine.  The  light  that  streamed  from 
Ramanuja  was  caught  up  and  handed  on  to  many  a  lofty  soul 
through  India's  history.  Perhaps  the  most  important  of  the 
spiritual  leaders  influenced  directly  by  Ramanuja's  teaching 
was  his  fifth  successor  as  head  of  the  Vaishnavite  order  'founded 
by  him.  This  man  was  named  Ramanand,  who  lived  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  He  was  one  of  those  men,  all  too  rare  in 
India   though   never   wholly   wanting,  who  was  unwilling   to 

235 


INDIA   AND   ITS  FAITHS 

divorce  religion  from  the  welfare  of  society,  and  whose  devo- 
tion to  God  made  him  all  the  more  devoted  to  his  fellow  men. 
Consequently  he  was  among  the  foremost  of  his  time  to  raise 
his  voice  against  caste;  and  being  put  out  of  his  own  order 
for  this  offense  he  founded  a  new  one,  which  should  have  room 
for  all.  He  was  a  man  of  large  and  democratic  spirit  and  of 
profound  religious  earnestness  as  well,  not  forgetting  in  his 
reforming  zeal  the  devotion  to  Rama  (his  name  for  God)  which 
he  had  learned  from  his  great  predecessor.  "He  spoke  to  the 
people  in  their  simple  dialect,  and  among  the  twelve  apostles 
that  he  chose  to  help  him  in  his  work  were  a  leather-worker,  a 
barber,  a  Mohammedan  weaver,  and  a  woman.  From  Ra- 
manand  there  went  forth  a  mighty  current  of  religious  feeling 
which  still  is  not  wholly  extinguished.  He  preached  the 
gospel  of  Rama's  boundless  love  for  men  of  every  race,  order, 
or  creed.  His  sect  is  still  numerous  in  northern  India,  chiefly 
among  the  poorer  classes,  and  the  poems  of  Tulsi  Das,  a 
product  of  the  Ramananda  revival,  are  the  Bible  of  many 
millions  in  the  Hindi  country.  Caste  has  reasserted  its  power 
over  them,  but  the  ideal  remains."  ^ 

Ramanand  spent  most  of  his  life  in  Benares;  and  tradition 
says  that  one  of  his  disciples  in  that  sacred  city  was  Kabir, 
whose  life  extended  through  the  larger  part  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Both  Hindus  and  Mohammedans  claim  Kabir  as  theirs 
by  birth;  and  though  the  majority  of  his  followers  to-day  are 
from  among  the  Hindus,  it  seems  probable  that  he  was  bom 
a  Mohammedan. 2  However  this  may  be,  he  was  brought  up 
in  a  Moslem  family  and  was  influenced  fully  as  much  by  Mos- 
lem as  by  Hindu  ideas.  He  seems,  moreover,  from  early  youth 
to  have  realized  that  both  Islam  and  Hinduism  possessed 
much  precious  truth,  but  that  each  taken  by  itself  was  nar- 
row and  full  of  superstition,  and  it  was  the  aim  of  his  life  to 
teach  a  kind  of  universal  theism  which  should  include  all  that 
was  best  in  both  the  old  religions  and  should  be  based  neither 
on  the  Veda  nor  on  the  Koran,  but  rather  on  the  immediate 

1  Howells,  The  Soul  of  India,  p.  374. 

*  This  at  least  is  Westcott's  opinion.  See  his  Kabir  and  the  Kabir  Panth 
(Cawnpore,  Christ  Church  Mission  Press,  1907),  pp.  32,  and  44.  Professor 
Wilson  held  the  opposite  view. 

236 


THE   KABIR   PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

apprehension  of  the  Divine.  With  such  views  as  these  he 
naturally  found  much  in  Indian  society  and  the  Indian  reli- 
gions both  senseless  and  evil.  One  of  the  earliest  authorities 
concerning  him  writes:  — 

"Kabir  refused  to  acknowledge  caste  distinctions  or  to  rec- 
ognize the  authority  of  the  six  schools  of  Hindu  philosophy. 
...  He  held  that  religion  without  bhakti  was  no  religion  at 
all,  and  that  asceticism,  fasting,  and  almsgiving  had  no  value 
if  unaccompanied  by  worship.  ...  He  imparted  religious  in- 
struction to  Hindus  and  Mohammedans  alike.  He  had  no 
preference  for  either  religion,  but  gave  teaching  that  was  ap- 
preciated by  the  followers  of  both.  He  spoke  out  his  mind 
fearlessly  and  never  made  it  his  object  merely  to  please  his 
hearers."  ^ 

As  Kabir's  writings  and  sayings  ^  still  form  the  most  impor- 
tant part  of  the  scriptures  of  his  followers,  they  are  of  interest 
not  merely  as  ancient  literature,  but  as  living  religious  forces; 
hence  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  quote  two  or  three  as 
samples  of  what  he  taught  four  hundred  years  ago,  and  of 
what  his  followers  are  at  least  supposed  to  believe  to-day. 
One  of  the  chief  topics  of  his  instruction  was  the  folly  of  caste, 
and  of  idolatry'  and  externalism. 

"I  and  you  are  of  one  blood,  and  one  life  animates  us  both; 
from  one  mother  is  the  world  born;  what  knowledge  is  this 
that  makes  us  separate?"  ' 

"There  is  nothing  but  water  at  the  holy  bathing  places;  I 
know  that  they  are  useless,  for  I  have  bathed  in  them. 

"The  images  are  all  hfeless;  they  cannot  speak;  I  know,  for 
I  have  cried  aloud  to  them. 

"The  Purana  and  the  Koran  are  mere  words;  lifting  up  the 
curtain  I  have  seen."  ^ 

"  I  laugh  when  I  hear  that  the  fish  in  the  water  is  thirsty. 

"You  do  not  see  that  the  Real  is  in  your  home,  and  you 
wander  from  forest  to  forest  listlessly! 

1  Quoted  by  Westcott  (p.  30)  from  Nabhaji,  who  WTOte  about  1700. 

*  Contained  in  the  Bijak  and  the  Granth,  and  in  various  sakhis,  or 
couplets. 

'  From  the  Bijik,  quoted  by  Westcott,  op.  cil.,  chap.  in. 

<  One  Hundred  Poems  of  Kabir,  translated  by  Rabindranath  Tagore 
(London,  Macmillan,  1915),  XLU. 

237 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

"Here  is  the  truth!  Go  where  you  will,  to  Benares  or  to 
Mathura;  if  you  do  not  find  your  soul,  the  world  is  unreal  to 
you."  ^ 

"So  long  as  the  sun  does  not  rise  the  stars  sparkle;  so  long 
as  perfect  knowledge  of  God  is  not  obtained  men  practice 
ritualism."  ^ 

"The  jogis,  ascetics,  austere  devotees  and  sannyasis  wander 
about  at  many  places  of  pilgrimage;  those  with  plucked-out 
hair,  those  with  the  munj  cord,  the  silent  ones,  those  who  are 
wearing  plaited  hair,  all  are  dying  at  the  end.  The  Tantras 
are  attended  to  by  them  but  not  Ram.  On  whose  tongue  is 
put  the  name  of  Ram,  what  can  the  God  of  Death  do  to 
him?  The  Shastras,  Vedas,  astrology,  and  many,  many  gram- 
mars they  know;  they  know  the  Tantras,  Mantras,  and  all 
medicines,  yet  at  the  end  they  must  die.  They  enjoy  domin- 
ion, an  umbrella,  and  many  beautiful  women;  betel,  camphor, 
perfume  and  sandal,  yet  at  the  end  they  must  die.  All  the 
Vedas,  Puranas,  and  Smritis  are  searched  by  them,  but  in  no 
wise  are  they  spared.  Kabir  says.  Utter  the  name  of  God; 
He  extinguishes  birth  and  death."  ^ 

"O  Sadhu!  the  simple  union  is  the  best. 

"I  shut  not  my  eyes,  I  close  not  my  ears,  I  do  not  mortify 
my  body ; 

"I  see  with  eyes  open  and  smile,  and  behold  His  beauty 
everywhere ; 

"  I  utter  His  Name,  and  whatever  I  see,  it  reminds  me  of 
Him;  whatever  I  do  it  becomes  His  worship. 

"Wherever  I  go,  I  move  round  Him, 

"All  I  achieve  is  His  service; 

"When  I  lie  down,  I  He  prostrate  at  His  feet. 

"Whether  I  rise  or  sit  down,  I  can  never  forget  Him;  for  the 
rhythm  of  His  music  beats  in  my  ears."  * 

"More  than  all  else  do  I  cherish  that  love  which  makes  me 
to  live  a  limitless  life  in  this  world. 

"  It  is  like  the  lotus,  which  lives  in  the  water  and  blooms  In 

*  One  Hundred  Poems  of  Kabir,  XLin. 

*  From  the  Bijak,  quoted  by  Westcott. 

»  From  the  Granth,  quoted  by  Westcott. 

*  Tagore's  translation,  XLI. 

238 


THE   KABIR   PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

the  water;  yet  the  water  cannot  touch  its  petals,  they  open 
beyond  its  reach."  ^ 

Kabir  was  often  persecuted  by  both  Mohammedans  and 
Hindus,  yet  he  gathered  a  considerable  following  from  both 
religions,  and  in  the  four  hundred  years  since  his  death  the 
Kabir  Pan  this,  as  his  followers  are  called,  have  steadily  in- 
creased, so  that  at  the  time  of  the  1901  census  they  numbered 
over  840,000.2  Most  of  these  are  Hindus,  though  a  few  are 
Mohammedans  —  for  Kabir  never  succeeded  in  winning  his 
followers  completely  away  from  their  old  religions  and  blend- 
ing them  into  a  new  one.  The  Hindu  Kabir  Panthis  are  also 
divided  into  two  sects  or  orders,  one  of  which  has  its  head- 
quarters at  the  Kabir  Chaura  in  Benares,  while  that  of  the 
other  is  in  the  Central  Provinces.^  Both  these  orders  have 
lay  as  well  as  clerical  members,  and  each  has  its  mahant  or 
guru,  who  represents  Kabir.  There  are  branch  monasteries  in 
various  parts  of  northern  India,  each  having  its  own  local 
mahant,  and  each  being  the  religious  center  for  the  lay  mem- 
bers of  the  region.  "The  mahant  is  supposed  to  visit  his  dis- 
ciples at  least  once  a  year,  to  note  the  progress  they  have 
made,  to  give  instruction  to  them  and  to  their  families,  and  to 
examine  and  receive  into  the  order,  if  found  qualified,  such 
candidates  as  may  be  brought  to  him."^  He  must  also  report 
in  person  to  the  head  mahant  at  headquarters  once  a  year. 

The  Kabir  Chaura  Math  —  the  Benares  headquarters  —  is 
an  interesting  place,  though  not  one  that  the  tourist  is  likely 
to  stumble  upon  if  walking  about  the  city  —  or  running 
through  his  Murray.  You  must  turn  to  the  left  from  the 
main  street,  drive  down  a  narrow  and  winding  lane  that  be- 
comes narrower  and  crookeder  as  you  proceed  till  at  last  your 
carriage  gets  stuck  between  the  two  walls  and  can  go  no 
farther.  You  then  get  out  and  walk,  diving  into  a  still  nar- 
rower lane  between  house  and  garden  walls,  and  when  you 

*  Tagore's  translation,  xxrv. 

*  According  to  W'estcott  (p.  2).  Macnicol,  in  his  recent  book  on  Indian 
Theism  (Oxford  University  Press,  1915),  places  the  number  at  "from  eight 
to  nine  thousand"  (p.  136),  but  gives  no  authority  for  his  statement. 
Possibly  this  is  merely  an  erratum  for  eight  to  nine  hundred  thousand. 

'  In  the  Chattisgarh  District.   See  Westcott,  chap.  v. 

*  Westcott,  p.  118. 

239 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

come  to  the  proper  gate,  stoop  and  enter.  The  reader  may 
think  my  directions  indefinite,  but  I  can  do  no  better!  At 
any  rate,  when  you  have  passed  through  the  little  gate  you 
find  yourself  in  a  large  paved  court,  at  the  farther  end  of 
which  is  the  room  in  which  Kabir  is  supposed  to  have  lived. 
It  contains  a  famous  painting  of  Kabir  with  three  of  his  dis- 
ciples, and  also  a  pair  of  sandals  intended  to  represent  his 
feet,  and  the  pillow  on  which  he  is  supposed  to  have  sat. 
Around  the  court  are  cells  for  the  monks,  and  near  its  center 
is  a  raised  platform,  fenced  off  from  the  rest  of  the  pavement, 
upon  which  stands  what  the  visitor  at  first  takes  to  be  a  Httle 
temple.  It  is  not  a  temple,  however;  at  least  not  a  temple  in 
the  Hindu  sense;  for  the  Panth  has  been  true  to  the  teachings 
of  its  founder  and  has  carefully  shunned  the  many  gods  of 
Hinduism  and  their  many  idols.  The  building  is  only  a  "build- 
ing" —  erected  to  mark  and  protect  the  spot  where  Kabir  is 
said  to  have  sat  when  he  taught  his  disciples  or  repeated  with 
untiring  devotion  the  name  of  God.  No  image  is  here,  but 
only  a  cloth  spread  in  the  middle  of  the  place,  underneath  the 
graceful  dome,  ever  decked  with  fresh  flowers. 

There  are  at  present  about  twenty  monks  in  residence  at 
this  Math  and  in  outward  matters  their  life  is  rather  similar 
to  that  of  Hindu  sannyasins.  They  rise  early  and  bathe  — 
though  (as  they  were  careful  to  tell  me)  not  always  in  the 
Ganges;  for  Kabir  disabused  his  disciples  of  any  superstitious 
veneration  for  the  sacredness  of  particular  streams.  After 
their  bath  they  pray  and  meditate.  At  noon  their  one  meal 
is  brought  to  them.  They  do  not  go  out  and  beg,  for  the  lay 
members  provide  for  their  wants.  Few  of  them  —  so  far  as  I 
know,  none  of  them  —  are  learned;  but  they  read  from  Kabir's 
writings — which  is  not  difficult,  as  they  are  in  the  vernacular. 

I  asked  them  to  whom  they  prayed,  and  they  answered 
quite  simply,  "To  Kabir."  "But  who  is  your  God?"  I  asked; 
and  again  they  answered  quite  naturally,  "Kabir."  "But  to 
whom  did  Kabir  pray?"  To  this  question  they  repHed  that 
Kabir  prayed  to  Ram,  and  that  they  pray  to  Kabir  to  pray 
to  Ram  for  them.^  Their  assertion  that  Kabir  was  their  God 

1  According  to  Westcott,  prayer  for  the  Kabir  Panthis  consists  chiefly 
of  meditation. 

240 


THE   KABIR   PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

should  probably  not  be  given  too  much  weight:  the  Indian 
guru  always  stands  to  some  extent  in  God's  place  for  the 
pious  disciple.  I  do  not  doubt  that  these  monks  and  their 
fellows  are  monotheists;  yet  it  must  be  added  that  Kabir  is 
coming  perilously  near  to  deification. 

In  fact  the  contents  of  the  later  religious  writings  of  the 
Panth,  as  given  by  Westcott,  show  plainly  that  Kabir  in  the 
eyes  of  many  of  his  followers  has  assumed  a  position  quite 
comparable  to  that  of  Sri  Krishna  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita. 
Two  other  changes  in  the  religion  of  Kabir,  introduced  by 
recent  generations  and  revealed  in  these  books,  are,  first,  an 
increase  of  Hindu  conceptions  —  especially  that  of  Maya  or 
"Kal,"  with  a  corresponding  tendency  toward  monism  and 
away  from  the  personal  monotheism  of  the  founder;  and 
secondly,  a  greater  emphasis  on  forms  and  externals.  This 
latter  tendency  is,  of  course,  the  invariable  accompaniment 
of  a  loss  of  inspiration;  modifying  Kabir's  words  quoted  above 
we  might  say:  WTien  the  sun  sets  the  stars  begin  again  to 
sparkle. 

Hand  in  hand  with  these  changes  in  belief  has  gone  a 
similar  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  Panth  toward  caste. 
Kabir's  insistence  that  distinctions  of  birth  are  of  no  impor- 
tance, that  all  men  are  brothers,  is  indeed  still  earnestly  main- 
tained —  so  far  as  the  four  higher  castes  are  concerned. 
Shudras  are  accepted  as  readily  as  Brahmins,  and  in  fact  most 
of  the  members  of  the  Panth  are  Shudras.  In  theory,  more- 
over, the  Panth  retains  its  founder's  democratic  doctrine  that 
all  men  are  alike  before  God;  but  in  practice  men  from  the 
"outcaste"  castes  are  not  wanted  as  members. 

At  the  weekly  and  monthly  devotional  services  ^  a  good 
deal  of  stress  is  laid  upon  form:  many  cocoanuts  must  be 
ceremoniously  broken;  many  betel  leaves,  properly  prepared 
with  dew,  must  be  consecrated  and  chewed ;  and  that  greatest 
of  Indian  religious  delicacies,  the  water  in  which  the  feet  of 
the  guru  have  been  washed,  must  be  provided  in  abundance, 
mixed  with  earth  and  made  up  into  pills  to  be  swallowed  by 
the  faithful.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  externalism,  it  is  said  that  a 
real  devotion  is  displayed,  and  every  day  the  hymns  of  Kabir 
1  Held  on  Sundays  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  lunar  month. 
241 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

are  devoutly  sung.  There  is  much  in  these  meetings  beside 
the  form.  And  as  to  the  form  itself,  on  what  ground  are  we 
justified  in  doubting  the  ability  of  piety  and  faith  to  turn  even 
the  betel  leaf  into  the  bread  of  life?  It  is  but  a  s>-mbol  after 
all,  and  who  are  we  to  judge  of  others'  s>Tnbols? 

The  ceremony  of  the  initiation,  like  the  Sunday  service,  has 
much  of  the  external  in  it;  but  the  ethical  and  genuinely  reli- 
gious teachings  of  Kabir  are  not  forgotten.  "All  who  desire 
to  become  members,"  writes  Westcott,  "are  required  to  re- 
nounce polytheism  and  to  acknowledge  their  belief  in  one 
only  God.  They  must  also  promise  to  eat  no  meat  and  drink 
no  wine;  to  bathe  daily  and  sing  hymns  to  God,  both  morning 
and  evening;  to  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  them  up 
to  three  times;  to  avoid  the  company  of  all  women  of  bad 
character  and  all  unseemly  jesting  in  connection  with  such 
subjects;  never  to  turn  away  from  their  house  their  lawful 
wife ;  never  to  tell  lies ;  never  to  conceal  the  propert>'  of  another 
man;  never  to  bear  false  witness  against  a  neighbor  or  speak 
evil  of  another  on  hearsay  evidence."  ^ 

Kabir's  attempt  to  form  a  new  religion  from  the  best  parts 
of  Hinduism  and  Islam  was  not,  it  must  be  confessed,  as 
successful  and  lasting  in  its  results  as  he  probably  hoped  it 
would  be;  but  the  attempt  was  certainly  worth  the  making 
and  has  by  no  means  completely  failed.  In  fact  so  obvious  was 
the  need  for  some  such  amalgamation  in  Kabir's  time  that  a 
contemporary  of  his,  up  in  the  Punjab,  devoted  his  life  to  the 
same  venture  —  and  with  results  which  have  made  much 
greater  impression  on  India  than  the  Kabir  Panth  has  ever 
been  able  to  produce.  This  man  was  Nanak,  the  founder  of 
the  Sikh  religion.  He  was  born  near  Lahore  about  1470,  and 
like  Kabir  was  subject  from  birth  to  both  Hindu  and  Moham- 
medan influences,  and  early  gave  signs  of  the  intense  religious 
enthusiasm  that  was  to  be  the  propelling  force  of  his  whole  life. 
During  adolescence  he  went  through  the  stage  of  spiritual  up- 
turnings  which  is  so  common  with  American  and  European 
youth;  but  in  his  case,  instead  of  expressing  itself  in  "convic- 
tion of  sin"  and  conversion,  it  bodied  itself  forth  in  a  vision  of 
God,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  beginning  of  his  special 
1  Westcott,  op.  cit.,  p.  113. 
242 


THE   KABIR   PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

religious  vocation.  For  he  now  resigned  the  position  which  he 
held,  retired  from  the  world,  and  together  with  his  faithful 
friend  Mardana,  he  went  wandering  about  the  land,  meditat- 
ing, discussing,  teaching,  composing  hymns  and  singing  them 
to  the  accompaniment  of  the  musical  instrument  played  by 
his  friend.  In  the  course  of  his  travels  he  is  said  to  have  gone 
to  Benares  and  to  have  come  under  the  influence  of  Kabir. 
According  to  tradition  this  meeting  was  in  Xanak's  twenty- 
seventh  year,  and  when  Kabir  was  a  very  old  man.  The 
similarity  of  Nanak's  point  of  view  to  Kabir's,  and  the  fact 
that  many  of  Kabir's  h\'mns  are  given  a  place  in  the  Granth, 
go  far  to  bear  out  the  tradition  of  the  meeting  of  the  r\vo  men 
and  the  influence  of  the  older  on  the  younger, 

Xanak's  whole  life,  from  the  beginning  of  his  mission  to  his 
death,  seems  to  have  been  that  of  a  wandering  ministrel,  sing- 
ing the  songs  of  God  in  all  willing  ears,  from  the  sacred  city 
of  the  Hindus  to  the  sacred  city  of  the  Moslems.  For  tradition 
has  it  that  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  where,  in  charac- 
teristic fashion,  he  got  into  trouble  with  some  of  the  fanatical 
pilgrims  by  protesting  vigorously  against  their  externalism  and 
almost  idolatrous  slavery  to  form.  During  his  long  life  of  wan- 
dering he  gathered  about  him  many  disciples  from  Mohamme- 
dans and  from  Hindus  of  all  castes.  Before  his  death  he  ap- 
pointed Angad  to  be  his  successor  in  the  office  of  guru.  His 
followers  were  present  in  great  numbers  at  the  last  to  say 
farewell;  and  when  the  end  came  the  dying  guru  uttered  the 
Divine  Xame,  "made  obeisance  to  God,  and  blended  his  light 
with  Guru  Angad's.  The  guru  remained  the  same.  There 
was  only  a  change  of  body  produced  by  a  supreme  miracle."^ 

Xanak's  teaching  was,  as  I  have  said,  ver>'  like  that  of 
Kabir.  And  the  differences  which  exist  are  apparently  to  be 
attributed  rather  to  differences  in  temperament  than  to  any 
real  divergence  in  behef.  Both  men  were  reformers  and  both 
were  mystics;  but  in  Kabir  the  mystic  element  seems  to  have 
been  rather  stronger  than  in  Xanak,  while  the  active  spirit  of 
protest  and  reform  is  more  noticeable  in  Xanak  than  in 
Kabir.2    Yet  these  differences  are  only  slight.    Like  Kabir, 

•  Macaullffe,  The  Sikh  Religion,  vol.  i,  p.  190. 

*  This  difference  comes  out  in  the  attitude  of  the  two  men  toward  van- 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Nanak  proclaimed  the  unity  of  God  with  all  the  vigor  of 
Mohammedanism.  Yet  the  God  of  Nanak,  like  that  of  Kabir, 
is  of  the  Indian  rather  than  of  the  Semitic  type.  He  lacks 
the  anthropomorphism  of  Allah,  and  he  has  much  of  the 
immanence  of  Vishnu,  or  even  of  Brahman.  Moreover,  even 
the  many  gods  of  the  Hindu  pantheon  are  retained  as  sub- 
ordinate spirits  —  good  and  bad  —  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and 
Shiva  being  considered  the  first  creations  of  the  One  God.  In 
no  way,  however,  does  this  acceptance  of  the  Hindu  devas 
as  subordinate  beings  militate  against  the  monotheism  of 
Nanak,  any  more  than  the  angels  of  Islam  and  Christianity 
make  those  religions  polytheistic.  Not  Kabir  or  Mohammed 
is  more  outspoken  in  attack  upon  polytheism  and  idolatry 
than  is  the  founder  of  the  Sikh  religion.  Nor  does  the  doctrine 
of  incarnation,  so  dear  to  the  Vaishnavite,  fare  any  better  at 
his  hands.  To  externalism  of  all  sorts,  moreover,  he  was  vio- 
lently opposed.  And  in  social  reforms  no  less  than  religious  he 
took  an  active  part,  opposing  caste  as  Kabir  had  done,  only 
with  greater  success. 

The  Sikh  view  of  the  future  life  Nanak  took  over  direct 
from  Hinduism  with  little  change.  Transmigration  and  Karma 
are  accepted  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  the  final  goal  of  man  is 
reunion  with  God.  God  is  often  represented  as  light,  and  the 
soul  of  each  of  us  as  an  emanation  from  It.  Nirvana,  or  re- 
absorption  into  the  Eternal  Light,  is  the  soul's  aim  and  its 
great  reward,  —  though  for  those  less  worthy  a  temporary 
heaven  is  provided.  In  Nirvana  the  soul  blends  its  light  with 
the  Supreme  Soul,  meeting  it  "as  water  blends  with  water." 

The  way  to  salvation,  Nanak  taught,  is  an  inner  pathway. 
External  forms  and  ascetic  practices  help  not  a  whit.  True 
devotion  to  God  and  meditation  upon  Him  and  selfless 
"work"  done  only  out  of  love  for  God  —  these  are  the  things 
that  profit.  In  all  this  there  is,  of  course,  little  new,  little  that 
was  not  taught  long  before  Kabir's  time  in  the  Gita  and  by 
Ramanand  —  except  that  the  protest  against  formalism  had 

ous  Hindu  customs.  Kabir  conformed  to  the  traditional  Indian  diet,  and 
in  fact  emphasized  the  guilt  of  meat-eating.  Nanak,  on  the  other  hand,  — 
owing  perhaps  in  part  to  Mohammedan  influences,  —  enjoined  upon  his 
followers  a  flesh  diet. 

244 


THE   KABIR    PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

never  been  so  absolute  and  so  outspoken  in  any  of  the  bhakti 
schools.  Another  thing  in  which  Nanak's  way  of  salvation 
resembled  that  of  the  great  Vaishnavite  teachers  was  the 
emphasis  which  he  put  (as  Kabir  also  had  done)  on  the  repeti- 
tion of  the  Name  of  God.  For  fear,  however,  of  inducing  a 
relapse  into  the  old  forms  of  Hinduism,  Nanak  devised  for 
this  purpose  a  new  divine  appellation,  namely,  Wahguru.'^ 
The  reverent  and  thoughtful  repetition  of  this  name  he  con- 
sidered a  great  help  in  meditation,  and  he  enjoined  its  practice 
upon  his  followers.  Earnest  meditation  he  regarded  as  the  most 
important  element  in  worship,  and  without  it,  he  taught,  no 
one  could  reach  Nirvana  or  even  heaven. 

The  teachings  of  Nanak  —  which  are  of  course  the  teachings 
of  the  Sikh  religion  to-day  —  are,  therefore,  quite  similar  to 
those  of  the  Hindu  bhakti  schools.  They  differ  rather  in 
what  they  deny  than  in  what  they  affirm.  Nanak  not  only 
opposed  the  doctrine  of  incarnation:  he  refused  to  accept  any 
of  the  sacred  books  —  either  Hindu  or  Moslem  —  as  authori- 
tative; he  opposed  asceticism  and  professional  begging,  teach- 
ing his  followers  to  earn  their  own  living,  to  eat  meat  and  live 
active  lives;  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  caste  distinc- 
tions and  taught  that  all  men  were  equal  before  God ;  and  his 
constant  endeavor  was  to  make  religion  more  simple,  more 
inward,  more  spiritual. 

Nanak  discarded  all  authoritative  books  and  relied  upon 
direct  intuition  of  religious  truth;  but  he  realized  that  not 
every  one  enjoyed  such  intuition  to  a  degree  sufficient  for  all 
the  needs  of  the  moral  and  religious  life.  The  rank  and  file  of 
his  followers  looked  directly  to  him  for  guidance,  and  as  guru 
of  the  new-founded  community  he  took  the  place  of  all  in- 
spired books.  So  when  he  saw  that  his  end  was  approaching, 
he  named  one  of  his  disciples,  as  I  have  said,  to  be  the  inspired 
guru  when  he  was  gone.  This  man  was  Angad,  and  when  his 
turn  to  depart  into  Nirs-ana  arrived,  in  imitation  of  his  Master 
he  chose  a  successor  with  whom  he  "blended  his  light."  In 
this  manner  the  divine  inspiration  —  or  rather,  as  the  Sikhs 
maintain,  Nanak  himself  —  was  handed  on,  like  the  flame 

^  Concerning  the  meaning  and  derivation  of  which  there  is  some  con- 
troversy. 

245 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

from  which  successive  candles  are  lighted,  through  ten  gurus. 
An  inspired  man,  the  early  Sikhs  believed,  was  much  better 
than  an  inspired  book;  and  all  the  gurus  were  really  one.^ 

Of  the  nine  gurus  who  followed  Nanak,  only  two  need  here 
be  mentioned,  namely,  Arjan  and  Gobind  Singh.  Arjan  was 
the  fifth  guru  (the  fourth  after  Nanak)  and  is  memorable  for 
several  things.  He  completed  the  great  tank  at  Amritsar  and 
began  the  erection  of  the  Golden  Temple  —  the  center  of 
Sikh  worship  —  on  an  island  in  the  middle  of  the  tank.  More 
important  than  this,  the  fifth  guru  was  a  mystic  and  a  true 
poet,  and  not  only  did  he  add  to  the  hymns  written  by  Nanak 
and  his  three  other  predecessors,  but  he  collected  all  these 
hymns,  together  with  some  by  certain  other  saintly  writers 
such  as  Kabir,  and  published  them  in  a  volume  known  as  the 
"Granth  Sahib"  —  or  "Noble  Book,"  "Holy  Bible"  —  which 
is  to-day  the  Bible  and  Prayer-Book  of  the  Sikh  religion.  But 
Arjan  was  not  only  a  poet  and  mystic:  he  had  the  stuff  in  him 
that  martyrs  are  made  of.  When  the  Moghul  Emperor  Jahan- 
gir  ordered  him  to  erase  certain  parts  of  the  Granth,  he  re- 
fused, replying  firmly  that  he  meant  to  maintain  the  integrity 
of  the  inspired  volume;  and  adding:  "If  in  pursuance  of  this 
object  this  perishable  body  must  depart,  I  shall  account  it 
great  good  fortune."^  The  Emperor's  reply  was  to  put  the 
guru  to  the  torture.  The  guru  died,  but  the  Granth  remained 
untouched. 

But  perhaps  the  act  of  the  fifth  guru  most  pregnant  in  con- 
sequences was  his  advice  to  his  son  and  successor;  namely,  "to 
sit  fully  armed  on  his  throne,  and  maintain  an  army  to  the 
best  of  his  ability."'    From  this  time  on  the  Sikh  community 

*  "  Nanak  assumed  the  body  of  Angad, 

Afterwards  Nanak  was  called  Amar  Das, 
As  one  lamp  is  lit  from  another. 


The  holy  Nanak  was  revered  as  Angad, 

Angad  was  recognized  as  Amar  Das, 

And  Amar  Das  became  Ram  Das. 

The  pious  saw  this  but  not  the  fools, 

Who  thought  them  all  distinct: 

But  some  rare  person  recognized  that  they  were  one."    ^ 
(From  the  Granth  of  the  Tenth  Guru.  Translation  by  Macauliflfe.) 
«  See  Dorothy  Field,  The  Sikh  Religion  (London,  Murray,  1914),  p.  19. 
'  Ibid. ,  loc.  cit. 

246 


THE   KABIR   PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

gradually  transformed  itself  from  a  group  of  religious  mystics 
into  an  army,  and  from  a  sect  into  a  nation.  The  guru  who 
contributed  most  to  this  transformation  was  Gobind  Singh. 
He  had  been  bom  and  brought  up  in  Patna  (on  the  edge  of 
Bengal)  and  was  deeply  imbued  with  Hindu  influences.  It  is 
said  that  he  was  at  one  time  a  worshiper  of  Durga  and  even 
made  a  human  sacrifice  to  her.  He  was,  according  to  Monier 
Williams,  "a  curious  compound  of  pugnacity,  courage,  super- 
stition, and  fanaticism."  1  It  was  he  who  completely  made 
over  the  Sikhs  into  a  nation  of  magnificent  soldiers,  who  not 
only  succeeded  in  defending  their  religion  and  their  independ- 
ence from  the  Mohammedan  rulers  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
but  were  able  in  the  nineteenth  to  carry  on  two  severe  wars 
with  the  British  Empire,  and  later  on  to  become  its  most  trusty 
ally  in  the  suppression  of  the  Great  Mutiny.  Gobind  Singh 
was  not  only  a  soldier  and  ruler,  but  something  of  a  poet  as 
well,  and  wrote  a  number  of  rather  mechanically  constructed 
hymns,  which  after  his  death  were  put  together  into  "The 
Granth  of  the  Tenth  Guru" —  the  Granth  compiled  by 
Arjan  being  called,  in  distinction,  the  "Adi,"  or  "Original" 
Granth.  Both  books  are  regarded  with  great  reverence  by  the 
Sikhs,  but  the  Adi  Granth  is  naturally  much  the  more  impor- 
tant and  authoritative  of  the  two. 

For  the  Granth  has  become  authoritative.  When  Gobind 
Singh  died  he  appointed  no  successor  to  the  guruship  except 
the  Granth  itself.  "After  me,"  he  said,  "you  shall  everywhere 
obey  the  Granth  Sahib  as  your  guru ;  whatever  you  shall  ask, 
it  will  show  you."  Thus  the  Sikh  religion  was  placed  on  exactly 
the  sort  of  basis  which  its  founder  had  intended  it  not  to  have, 
exchanging  the  inspiration  of  a  living  teacher  for  the  legalism 
of  a  written  book. 

The  Sikhs  to-day  number  a  little  over  three  million,^  most 
of  whom  live  in  the  Punjab,  though  some  are  scattered  over 
various  parts  of  India  and  are  found  even  as  far  away  as 
Upper  Burma.  If  one  may  trust  the  census,  their  numbers 
are  increasing  more  rapidly  than  those  of  any  other  religion 
in  India  except  Christianity  and  Buddhism  —  their  rate  of 
increase  in  the  last  ten  years  having  been  over  ten  per  cent. 
1  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism,  p.  167.       *  To  be  exact,  3,014,466.  i 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Some  of  this  growth  may  perhaps  be  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  during  the  last  decade  the  more  liberal  Sikhs  have 
readopted  the  democratic  attitude  toward  caste  that  was 
characteristic  of  Nanak  and  most  of  his  successors  in  the  guru- 
ship.  Gobind  Singh  in  particular  swelled  the  ranks  of  his 
army  by  baptizing  into  the  Sikh  fold  large  numbers  of  out- 
castes.  Since  his  day,  however,  the  Sikhs  have  nearly  lost  the 
old  democratic  spirit  and  have  become  almost  Hindu  in  their 
feeling  for  caste.  They  recognize  no  castes  within  their  body, 
but  they  will  not  intermarry  with  non-Sikhs  —  thus  making 
their  religious  community  itself  a  caste.  During  the  last  dec- 
ade, however,  as  I  have  indicated,  the  more  liberal  of  their 
number,  spurred  on  by  rivalry  to  the  Arya  Samaj  which  is  so 
strong  in  the  Sikh  country,  have  begun  again  admitting  low- 
9  caste_Hindus  intothe  fold.  But  another^  reason  for  the  seeming 
'  increase  of  the  Sikhs  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  each  census 
unearths  a  large  number  of  them  who  had  in  previous  reports 
been  set  down  as  Hindus.^  If  this  is  at  the  bottom  of  their 
seemingly  rapid  rate  of  increase,  the  increase,  of  course, 
ceases  to  be  significant.  The  fact,  however,  that  so  many 
Sikhs  have  been  uncertain  whether  or  not  they  were  Hindus 
is  significant. 
■    'W  \    The  temples  of  the  Sikhs  do  not  differ  so  much  from  Hindu 

vr    W^ Vestantism  of  the  founder.   What  the  visitor  sees  of  them  and 


jtemples  as  one  would  be  led  to  expect,  considering  the  Prot- 
Y  "     ^    y'estantism  of  the  founder.   What  the  visitor  sees  of  them  and 
\  s(     '  vy?^  V'^''^'^  worship  within  thein^is  usuallyjarirom  impressive.^  The 
>r     cr^^Xapproach  to  the  GolderTTempTe  at  AmritsarTTor  instance,  is 


^; 


t/" 


lined  with  the  usual  display  of  Hindu  beggars  and  ascetics, 
and  all  the  surroundings  of  the  place  are  unusually  dirty  even 
for  India.  And  according  to  Professor  Oman,  the  purlieus'  of 
the  sacred  tank  are  no  cleaner  morally  than  they  are  physically, 
The  temple  itself  is  certainly  a  beautiful  building,  and  no 

1  The  191 1  census  seems  to  show  an  increase  of  thirty-seven  per  cent, 
but  a  large  part  of  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  half  a  million  Sikhs  in  1901 
were  put  down  as  Hindus,  because  of  their  noncomformity  to  the  rules  of 
Gobind  Singh.  This  would  bring  the  rate  of  increase  down  to  something 
over  ten  per  cent.  It  is  quite  likely  that  some  even  of  this  ten  per  cent  is 
due  to  similar  causes.  See  Oman's  Cults,  Customs,  and  Superstitions  of 
India  (2d  ed.,  London,  Unwin,  1908),  p.  102,  and  especially  the  quotation 
from  Macauliffe  in  the  note. 

248 


THE   KABIR   PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 


f 


expense  of  marble  and  gold  leaf  has  been  spared  to  make  it 
impressive.  Yet  in  spite  of  its  magnificence,  it  is,  from  a  reli- 
gious point  of  view,  somewhat  disappointing.  The  central 
hall  has,  of  course,  been  influenced  by  the"  Hindu  temple,  the 
chief  difference  being  that  in  place  of  Krishna's  image  or 
Shiva's  lingam  you  find  an  enormous  copy  of  the  Granth  Sahib, 
lying  on  an  ottoman  and  covered  over  with  a  cloth.  It  is  un- 
covered (so  at  least  I  was  told  by  one  of  the  temple  priests) 
at  5  A.M.  and  ii  p.m.,  when  the  priests  read  from  it  (intoning), 
and  hvTnns  are  sung  —  sometimes  by  a  choir.  During  the  rest 
of  the  day  the  Granth  Sahib  simply  sits  on  its  ottoman,  prop- 
erly veiled,  receiving  the  reverence  of  visitors.  Perhaps  half  a 
dozen  priests  were  sitting  behind  it  when  we  entered  the  tem- 
ple, most  of  them  engaged  in  conversation  with  each  other, 
while  t%vo  of  them  lazily  waved  long  brushes^  peacock's 
feathers  and j^ccasioaalLy  swept^up  with  them  the  yellow  mari- 
gold blossoras..that  were  constantly  being  strewm  around  the 
Granth  Sahib  by  pious  worshipers. 

The  worship  of  the  Sikhs  takes  many  forms.  Perhaps  the 
most  important  part  of  it  is  the  daily  repetition  of  the  Japji  — 
the  longest  of  the  hymns  of  Guru  Nanak.  "The  Japji,"  writes 
Macauliffe,  "is  considered  by  the  Sikhs  a  key  to  their  sacred 
volume  and  an  epitome  of  its  doctrines.  It  is  silently  repeated 
by  the  Sikhs  early  in  the  morning.  Ever>'  Sikh  must  have  it  by 
heart,  otherwise  he  is  not  deemed  orthodox.  It  is  the  duty  of 
all  Sikhs,  even  if  they  cannot  read,  to  have  themselves  taught 
this  great  morning  divine  ser\'ice."  ^  The  Japji  is  a  h>-mn  of 
praise  to  the  Supreme  and  contains  many  noble  thoughts  and 
some  true  poetr>^  It  is  far  too  long  to  quote  here  entire,  but  a 
few  of  its  verses  will  give  an  idea  of  the  whole :  — 

"Who  can  sing  His  attributes,  His  greatness,  His  deeds? 
WTio  can  sing  Him  who  fashioneth  the  body  and  again  destroyeth  it? 
Who  can  sing  Him  who  appeareth  to  be  far,  but  is  known  to  be  near? 
Who  can  sing  Him  who  is  all  seeing  and  omnipresent? 
Praisers  praise  God,  but  have  not  acquired  a  knowledge  of  Him, 
As  rivers  and  streams  fall  into  the  sea  but  know  not  its  extent. 
Kings  and  emperors  who  possess  oceans  and  mountains  of  property  and 

wealth  , 

Are  not  equal  to  the  worm  which  forgetteth  not  God  in  his  heart. 

1  Oman,  op.  dt.,  vol.  i,  p.  195.  *  Macauliffe's  translation,  op.  cit. 

249 


lOl 


INDIA  AND  ITS   FAITHS 

Beside  the  repetition  of  the  Japji  and  the  morning  service 
of  intoning  the  Granth  in  the  temple,  the  Sikhs  have  various 
other  forms  of  worship.  Some  visit  the  temple  at  any  time  of 
day  and  there  engage  in  individual  devotion,  intoning  thehymns 
of  Nanak  before  the  Granth.    More  often  their  worship  con- 
sists of  circumambulating  the  shrine  five  or  more  times.   But 
the  commonest  form  of  worship,  if  one  may  judge  by  what  he 
sees  in  Sikh  temples,  consists  in  making  offerings  of  flowers  to 
the  Granth  Sahib,  the  flowers  (usually  marigolds)  being  sprin- 
kled on  the  book  or  before  it.  This  is  true  not  only  of  the  Sikhs 
in  Amritsar,  but  in  various  parts  of  India.    In  the  Sikh  temple 
at  Benares,  in  the  shrine  close  to  Ranjit  Singh's  tomb  at  Lahore, 
in  the  very  sacred  temple  that  marks  the  spot  of  Gobind  Singh's 
birth  at  Patna,  I  have  seen  the  same  idolatrous  reverence  for 
the  Granth  Sahib  as  at  Amritsar.    Farquhar  writes  that  in 
Conjeeveram  he  has  been  shown  an  altar  on  which  fire  sacri- 
fice is  regularly  performed  to  the  Granth.    In  his  Satyarth 
Prakash,  Swami  Dayanand,  the  founder  of  the  Arya  Samaj, 
writes  of  the  Sikhs:  "Though  they  perform  no  idol-worship, 
yet  they  worship  their  Granth  more  idolatrously.    Is  it  not 
^     I  idolatry?    Idolatry  is  bowing  to  or  worshiping  any  material 
I  object.    They  have  done  exactly  the  same  as  the  idolaters, 
who  have  made  idolatry  a  very  lucrative  business.    Just  as 
the  idolaters  exhibit  their  idols  to  the  people  at  large  and  re- 
ceive presents  for  their  gods;  so  do  the  followers  of  the  religion 
-    of  Nanak  worship  the  Granth,  allow  it  to  be  worshiped,  and 
v^^  receive  presents  for  it."  ^ 
V  ^tX(\      This  sad  development  of  the  Sikh  religion  might  very  well 
^  ^v)^lf  giveus  Christians  loodlorffip^ht.  "Just  as  Hindu  temple  wor- 
J^  J^LI  shipshould  be  a  usefin^wamingto  ev^r>^atholic,  s^^         bib- 
I.    ^    VmI  liolatrjj^of-lhelSiESs^sHould  act  as^aiTobject  lesson  to  every 
^Q«n^*y  tel^Slt    Naiiak's  reTonrtTitEe  Luther's,  was  away  from  ex- 
V[v  ^  v '  ternal  authority  to  living  experience.  Nanak's  successors  have 
almost  defeated  his  spiritual  purpose  by  making  the  Granth 
into  an  idol.  And  have  not  some  of  Luther's  successors  come 


{^    /v»^      periloush^eatJii-tlirning  the  Bible  into  a  fetish?  If  one  would 
"^  see  the  logical  conclusi^  of  slavery  to  the  letter,  let  him  go  to 


see  tnejogic 
Amritsarjar 


£iicl  visit  ffi^^lde^Temple.     , ^.--'~-""  X,  ^(/^^^ 

\^  ""English  translation,  p.  363.         J^^      "Aa^   'H 


.v-^ 


THE  KABIR   PANTHIS  AND   THE   SIKHS 

Not  only  in  their  attitude  toward  the  Granth,  but  in  other 
matters  has  there  been  a  decided  falling-off  among  the  Sikhs 
from  the  purity  of  Nanak's  teaching.  The  reverence  which  he 
taught  his  disciples  to  cherish  for  their  guru  has  degenerated     --y    '  (■ 
into  guru  worship.  When  I  asked  one  of  the  Sikhs  in  thetein-  ^      - 
pie  at  Patna  whom  he  worshiped,  he  answered  quite  fnaively,)  ^];Xtyyu. 
"Gobind  Singh."    A  tablet  attached  to  the  gateway^^oPthe  £^j,,^^;^^ 
Golden  Temple  speaks  of  Guru  Ram  Das  as  an  incarnation  of  <lxje>^^  ^ 
Ram.  Evidences  of  a  relapse  into  Hinduism  are  to  be  found  in  iC^^h^ 
most  parts  of  the  Sikh  world.   In  fact  one  can  hardly  call  it  a  'j  i^'v^ 
relapse,  for  —  owing  largely  to  the  early  enmity  of  the  Mo-  0^  .yy^sh^ 
hammedans  —  the  Sikhs  have  always  formed,  in  one  sense,    ^^/yvi^ 
merely  a  branch  of  Hinduism.  I  therefore  should  not  have  been  ^  ,^^  . 
surprised  (though  I  confess  I  was)  to  find  the  tomb  of  Guru  /     / -^^ 
Arjan  at  Lahore  adorned  with  pictures  from  Hindu  mythology, 
and  to  see  a  Ganesh  over  the  entrance  of  the  tomb  of  Ranjit 
Singh,  next  door.   The  sacred  tank  at  Amritsar  liaalong  been  Cly,^rw<^' 
lined  %vilh^  signs  of  encroaching  Hinduism.    When   Monier  ''^^=~^>v^ 
Williams  visited  it,  neai^-ftfty  years  ago,  an  intelligent  Sikh   ^'^^'^  "^ 
whom  he  met  there  pointed  to  an  idol  of  Krishna  on  the  edge  ^T^^""""'^ 
of  the  lake  and  said,  "We  Sikhs  are  gradually  lapsing  back,"^^'^''^''-^ 
into  our  old  habits.  Our  first  guru  abolished  caste  and  forbade  ^  ""f^  *^ 
the  worship  of  idols.    Out  tenth  guru  was  a  thorough  Hindu 
at  heart  and  by  his  own  example  encouraged  the  return  of 
Hindu  practices;  so  that  of  the  Sikhs  now  found  in  the  Pun- 
jab a  large  number  adopt  caste,  wear  the  Brahmanical  thread, 
keep  Hindu  festivals,  observe  Hindu  ceremonies  such  as  the 
shraddha,  and  even  present  ofTerings  to  idols  in  Hindu  tem- 
ples." ^  ~  " 

.'    There  have  been  for  years  two  parties  among  the  Sikhs,  one  ^ 
[of  them  nourishing  the  spirit  of  reform  and  protestantism,  the  j>^  <-^p 
'  other  favoring  the  retention  of  all  the  Hindu  forms  and  usages   l-t-u-JL 
j  that  have  crept  into  their  religion.  But  the  rank  and  file  of  the\^^Tl*^ 
Sikhs,  I  imagine,  belong  to  neither  of  these  parties,  —  at  least  <^j  \^-^^*^^~^ 
not  consciously,  —  but  find  the  questions  of  their  relation  to  ^j^ 
Hinduism  —  and  most  other  theoretical  questions  —  rather    u^^-^ 
vague  and  decidedly  uninteresting.  A  Sikh  whom  I  found  ^»^  if\r^ 
away  up  in  Mandalay  —  and  who  seemed  to  be  an  unusually    ^    j^^ 
1  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism,  p.  178. 
251 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 


J 


intelligent  and  fervent  believer  —  told  me  he  had  never  heard 
of  any  of  his  co-religionists  worshiping  Ganesh  or  any  Hindu 
god,  or  anything  but  the  Granth  Sahib.   For  his  own  part,  at 
any  rate,  he  knew  that  he  worshiped  the  Granth  Sahib  and 
nothing  else.    I  asked  him  if  he  worshiped  God,  and  he  said, 
r   "Yes."    Then  I  said,  "Have  you  iivo  Gods,  namely  God  and 
:    the  Granth?"  —  to  which  he  answered,  "No."    "We  worship 
God  through  the  Granth,"  he  explained.    "And  when  we  wor- 
ship the  Granth  it  is  not  the  paper  and  ink  that  we  worship, 
but  the  words  and  ideas,  which  are  those  of  God."   All  good 
Sikhs,  he  said,  were  supposed  to  read  the  Granth  every  day,  T^vx^ 
'     and  to  go  to  the  temple  and  hear  it  read  there  on>^nday&.  He 
showed  me  his  own  little  well-thumbed  copy  of  the  Japji  — ' 
for  he  had  no  copy  of  the  whole  Granth.  This,  he  said,  he  used 
in  prayer.  All  his  prayers  consist  of  recitation  or  reading  from 
some  passage  of  the  Granth,  and  this,  he  said,  was  true  of  most 
Sikhs.  They  make  no  spontaneous  prayers  or  petitions  of  their 
o,wn,  but  find  in  the  Granth  suitable  prayers  for  anything  that 
Ajjz/^they  need.    About  the  next  world  he  seemed  to  know  —  and 
yjff  ^      think  —  very  little.    He  had  a  confused  idea  that  if  he  were 
V  x^  \good  he  would  go  after  death  to  heaven  for  a  great  many  lakhs 
oA  J^  j  -of  years,  and  then  start  again  on  the  wheel  of  birth  beginning 
jijr^/\v^      with  animal  forms;  but  he  seemed  quite  uncertain  about  it, 
•    \>^-  ..       and  apparently  the  hope  played  a  very  small  part  in  his  life. 
a"      >>y\       The  Sikhs  as  a  class  seem  to  be  a  manly  lot,  and  they  cer-        , 
Ipy^'^'^    tainly  make  fine  soldiers.   They  do  not,  however,  seem  to  be|^,l  "j 
'^/^ y' particularly  noted  for  intelligence  dr^educatTon.    And  in  reli- W;'*  ( 
-   S^  J^,     giojis  education  they  seem  to  be  not  much  better  off  than  the  \  ^y  iL 
r^    r(  /      average^  Parents  teaCh-thCT'chrtdren  the- Japji,  but  howj^^         ^1 
'\K  of  it  theyjinderstand  is  a  question."  Nanak  wTote  his  hymns  i<;;)W 

" in^ the" vernacular,  ^t  the  vernacular  of  four  hundred  years 
ago  is  not  the  vernacular  of  to-day;  hence  the  meaning  of  the  ^ 
Granth,  in  its  ancient  Punjabi,  is  rathexillind_.to_most  or  its)  hf-i^ 
readers  —  or  reciters.  And  of  course  the  great  majority'  of  the;  ff^""^ 
Sikhs~caiinot  read" even  the  language  which  they  speak.  More-  ■jjX'-'*'^ 
over,  out  of  consideration  for  the  weakness  of  the  flesh  and'>ev^*^ 
^  -j  the  necessities  of  business,  the  leaders  allow  their  followers  to 
^v-  '   j/^  '  do  their  Granth  reading  by  proxy 


J7 


^  According  to  Oman:  Cults,  Customs,  and  Superstitions  of  India,  p.  93. 


252 


THE   KABIR  PANTHIS   AND   THE   SIKHS 

The  Sikhs  of  to-day,  however,  are  waking  up,  with  the  rest 
of  India,  to  the  need  of  reform  and  of  education.  A  growing 
self-consciousness  has  tended  to  prevent  further  encroach- 
ments of  Hinduism.  The  idols  which  had  found  their  way  into 
the  Golden  Temple  were  thrown  out  in  1905.  And  perhaps 
more  important,  a  movement  has  been  set  on  foot  for  real 
education,  and  the  community  is  now  supporting  forty-six 
schools  for  boys,  thirty-three  for  girls,  and  a  college  —  not  to 
mention  a  "Sikh  Educational  Conference"  which  meets  annu- 
ally to  discuss  educational  questions  and  raise  funds.  In  mat- 
ters pertaining  more  strictly  to  religious  education  and  propa- 
ganda, new  efforts  are  also  being  made.  A  Tract  Society,  a 
"Young  Men's  Sikh  Association"  and  a  "Khalsa^  Young 
Men's  Association"  have  been  founded,  and  twenty  or  thirty 
evangelists  and  missionaries  have  been  set  to  work,  preaching 
the  gospel  of  Nanak  to  Sikhs  and  non-Sikhs. ^ 

In  spite  of  these  incipient  reforms  it  is  evident  that  the  orig- 
inal inspiration  of  Nanak  and  the  early  gurus  has  been  largely 
spent.  Whether  it  can  ever  be  rekindled  so  as  to  be  again  a 
really  significant  spiritual  power  seems  rather  questionable. 
The  same  thing  may  be  said  with  equal  truth  of  the  movement 
started  by  Kabir.  And  yet  the  inspiration  and  insight  for 
which  Kabir  and  Nanak  stood  has  not  been  lost.  The  followers 
of  these  seers,  dwelling  in  the  darker  valleys,  may  at  times  have 
forgotten  the  light;  but  the  light  itself,  like  the  fiery  message 
in  the  "Agamemnon,"  has  been  handed  on  from  headland  to 
headland,  and  is  the  living  truth  for  India  to-day  as  it  was 
when  the  ancient  Rishis  penned  the  first  Upanishads. 

1  "Khalsa"  is  a  name  for  the  Sikh  community. 

2  These  facts  concerning  the  reform  movement  are  drawn  from  Farquhar's 
Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India,  pp.  341-43. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    JAINAS 

THE  various  reform  movements  of  modern  India  are  not 
the  only  ones  to  which  Hinduism  has  given  birth.  India 
has  always  been  a  land  of  thought  (as  well  as  of  tradition), 
and  from  times  that  antedate  history,  little  bands  of  relatively 
independent  thinkers  have  arisen  within  the  fold  of  Hinduism, 
giving  expression  sometimes  to  reforming  protests,  sometimes 
to  new  philosophies.  The  overwhelming  majority  of  these 
children  of  Hinduism  have  quickly  or  slowly  sunk  back  into  the 
capacious  arms  of  their  ever-patient  mother  and  lost  all  inde- 
pendence in  her  strong  embrace.  A  very  few  have  retained 
their  individuality  and  become  separate  religions.  By  far  the 
greatest  of  these  is,  of  course.  Buddhism.  But  Buddhism  is 
not  the  oldest.  The  title  to  this  position  of  oldest  non-Hindu, 
native  Indian  religion  belongs  to  the  faith  of  a  small  group  of 
monks  and  laymen,  numbering  now  but  a  million  and  a  quar- 
ter, and  known  as  the  Jainas. 

The  man  who  put  this  religion  into  something  like  its  pres- 
ent shape  was  a  contemporary  of  Buddha,  but  rather  older 
than  he ;  and  if  we  may  believe  the  Jaina  of  tradition  (as  schol- 
ars are  beginning  to  do),  he  was  not  actually  the  originator  of 
the  sect  which  follows  his  teachings ;  he  merely  handed  on  with 
certain  modifications  a  line  of  thought  and  practice  which  was 
already  old  in  his  day.  This  man  is  known  by  several  names, 
but  the  commonest  of  them  is  Mahavira,  which  means  "Great 
Hero."  He  is  also  called  the  Jina  or  the  "  Conqueror,"  because 
he  learned  how  to  master  himself  and  conquer  Fate,  and  taught 
men  how  to  do  the  same.  It  is  from  this  epithet  of  his  that  his 
religion  takes  its  name;  for  the  "Jainas"  are  the  "Conquer- 
ors." Mahavira  is  said  to  hare  been  born  about  600  B.C.  and  to 
have  died  about  527.  Like  his  younger  contemporary,  Buddha, 
he  spent  his  life  teaching  the  truths  which  he  had  in  part  re- 
ceived, in  part  discovered,  and  at  his  death  he  left  behind  him 
an  organized  body  of  monks  and  also  many  lay  followers. 

254 


THE  JAINAS 

The  most  important  event  in  the  history  of  Jainism  subse- 
quent to  the  death  of  Mahavira  was  the  great  schism  that  took 
place  about  300  b.c.^  as  a  result  of  which  the  Jainas  have  been 
divided,  up  to  this  day,  into  two  separate  bodies  which  have 
but  Httle  to  do  with  each  other.  The  division  took  place  over 
the  question  of  the  more  or  less  rigorous  maintenance  of  the 
ancient  rules  of  the  order.  To  us,  to-day,  the  particular  points 
at  issue  seem  trivial;  but  they  were  serious  matters  in  300 
B.C.  The  chief  controversy  was  over  the  costume  of  the  monk. 
Mahavira  had  taught  that  the  monk  should  eschew  all  cloth- 
ing —  for  nakedness  has  always  been  regarded  in  India  as  a 
sign  of  peculiar  sanctity.  At  the  time  of  the  schism  one  party 
had  so  far  yielded  to  the  conventions  of  the  times  as  to  adopt 
clothing,  and  called  themselves  the  "Svetambaras,"  or  "those 
clad  in  white."  The  more  conservative  section  would  have  no 
fellowship  with  those  who  yielded  thus  shamelessly  to  the 
weakness  of  the  flesh,  and  broke  off  relations  with  them,  being 
known  by  the  picturesque  title  "Digambara,"  or  "clad  in  the 
sky";  for  they  retained  the  sky  as  their  only  garment.  A  third 
great  sect,  the  Sthanakavasi,  established  itself  about  five  hun- 
dred years  ago,  branching  off  from  the  Svetambaras  as  a  pro- 
test against  the  use  of  images.  Each  of  these  three  sects  has 
its  own  canon  of  sacred  scriptures,  that  of  the  Svetambaras 
being  the  oldest,  and  dating  in  its  present  form  from  about 
450  A.D.,  though  based  on  books  that  probably  were  in  exist- 
ence at  the  time  of  the  great  schism.  The  Digambaras  reject 
the  Svetambara  canon  and  have  one  of  their  own  —  which  in 
fact  is  based  on  the  Svetambara  version ;  while  the  Sthanakavasi 
canon  is  merely  a  selection  from  the  Svetambara  books.  Each 
of  these  three  great  sects,  in  proper  protestant  fashion,  has 
subdivided  and  blossomed  in  various  ways;^  so  that  at  present 
there  are  nearly  ninety  subdivisions  of  Jainism.  Fortunately 
there  is  beginning  to-day  a  tendency  in  the  opposite  direction 

1  The  real  division  seems  to  have  come  at  this  time,  though  the  two 
sects  were  not  officially  and  explicitly  divided  until  the  first  or  second 
century  a.d. 

2  That  this  process  began  fairly  early  and  continued  through  centuries 
is  shown  by  the  numerous  lists  of  Teachers  and  subdivisions  in  the  Jaina 
inscriptions.  See  Guerinot,  Repertoire  d'Epigraphie  Jaina  (Paris,  Leroux; 
1908),  esp.  pp.  35-68. 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  a  real  desire  for  unity  among  the  Jainas  —  as  we  shall  see 
later  on  in  this  chapter.  The  tendency  is  only  a  beginning,  but 
it  is  hopeful  because  the  differences  between  the  various  sects 
and  sub-sects  are  minute  and  purely  external,  while  on  the 
great  fundamentals  of  their  religion  they  are  in  perfect 
accord. 

These  fundamentals  go  back  to  the  teachings  of  Mahavira 
and  arise  out  of  the  great  problem  of  his  times  and  the  great 
problem  of  all  times:  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  As  we  know 
from  Buddhist  sources,  the  age  of  Gautama  and  Mahavira 
was  one  in  which  this  problem  of  the  liberation  of  the  soul  was 
taken  very  seriously.  Buddha  enumerates  some  sixty-two  an- 
swers proposed  by  various  sects  and  teachers  to  the  great 
question.  Popular  Indian  religion  taught  that  the  performance 
of  various  rites  to  some  God  was  the  road  to  salvation.  Philo- 
sophical Brahmanism  taught  that  it  could  be  won  only  through 
recognition  of  the  identity  of  the  soul  with  Brahman.  Buddha 
had  his  solution.  And  Mahavira  had  his.  Now,  the  problem 
of  salvation  is  complex. ^  It  involves  one's  conception  of  the 
whole  world,  of  the  soul,  its  nature  and  ideal,  and  of  the  rela- 
tion of  the  soul  to  the  world  and  to  that  part  of  it  which  in 
a  special  way  it  inhabits  —  namely,  the  body.  The  Jaina  solu- 
tion of  this  complex  problem  is  characteristically  Indian,  yet 
quite  unique.  It  rejects  Brahman,  and,  in  one  sense,  all  the 
gods,  accepts  the  material  world  and  the  individual  soul  as 
equally  real,  adopts  Karma,  and  by  one  stroke  seeks  to  explain 
both  the  relation  of  soul  and  body,  the  ideal  to  be  attained, 
the  obstacles  in  the  way,  and  the  means  of  reaching  the  goal. 
This  it  does  by  identifying  Karma  with  body.  Why  has  the  soul 
a  body,  and  how  is  this  built  up?  The  Jaina  answers:  It  is 
because  by  yielding  to  impulses  and  attractions  one  draws 
around  one's  true  self  subtle  particles  of  real  physical  matter 
which  one  takes  with  him  to  the  next  birth  as  his  Karma,  and 
which  determine  his  characteristics  and  his  fate  in  the  next 
life.  It  is  from  this  wretched  body  of  ours  —  both  gross  and 
subtle  —  that  all  our  ills,  our  sins  and  sorrows  and  stupidities 

1  Hence  all  of  the  "Three  Jewels"  of  Jainism  are  requisite  —  namely, 
"Right  Knowledge,  Right  Faith,  Right  Conduct."  Cf.  the  "Triple  Gem  " 
of  the  Buddhists. 

256 


THE  JAINAS 

arise.   And  the  aim  of  all  life  is  to  strip  off  layer  after  layer  of 
these  clinging  fetters,  until  at  length  the  soul  is  free,  — 

"Leaving  its  outgrown  shell  by  Life's  unresting  sea." 

The  view  is  summarized  as  follows  by  a  recent  English  con- 
vert to  Jainism,  Mr.  Herbert  Warren:  — 

"We  and  all  other  living  beings  on  this  earth  are  from  one 
point  of  view  uncreate,  self-existent,  immortal,  individual  souls, 
alive  with  feeling  and  consciousness,  and  never  to  lose  our 
own  identity'.  We  are  each  of  us  responsible  to  others  for 
our  conduct  toward  them.  We  are  responsible  to  ourselves 
for  our  own  condition.  In  whatever  degree  we  are  ignorant,  in 
pain,  unhappy,  unkind,  cruel,  or  weak,  it  is  because  since  birth, 
and  even  previously  in  the  infinite  past,  we  are  and  have  been 
acquiring  and  incorporating  into  ourselves  —  by  the  attrac- 
tion and  assimilation  of  subtle,  unseen,  though  real  physical 
matter  —  energies  [Karma]  which  clog  the  natural  wisdom, 
knowledge,  blissfulness,  love,  compassion,  and  strength  of  the 
soul,  and  which  excite  us  to  unnatural  action.  Until  we  leave 
off  this  unnatural  kind  of  life,  by  refusing  to  obey  impulses  and 
promptings  which  by  our  own  conscience  and  understanding 
we  believe  to  be  wTong,  and  which  are  only  the  blind  auto- 
matic operation  of  those  unnatural  though  sometimes  power- 
ful energies  in  us  [Karma],  the  peace  of  mind  which  is  insep- 
arable from  a  life  of  rectitude,  and  the  final  pure  natural  state 
of  existence  in  everlasting  blissfulness  [Moksha]  must  remain 
nothing  more  than  matters  of  faith  and  hearsay."  ^ 

To  this  summary  I  need  add  but  a  few  details.  According  to 
the  Jaina  system,  the  universe  is  unending  and  uncreate. 
There  is  no  God,  but  only  eternal  souls  and  the  eternal  ele- 
ments. The  universe  is  made  up  of  the  two  grand  divisions  of 
jivas,  or  living  things,  and  ajivas,  or  non-living  things.  These 
latter  are  five  in  number,  namely:  (i)  Motion;  (2)  Inertia;  (3) 
Space;  (4)  Time;  and  (5)  Sensuous  Qualities,  or  a  mysterious 
substance  possessing  them.^    The  reader  will  probably  note 

^  Jainism  (Madras,  Minerva  Press,  1912),  pp.  4-5. 

*  It  is  difficult  to  know  exactly  what  the  Jainas  include  under  this  fifth 
class.  Their  technical  word  for  it  is  Pudgalastikaya,  which  Mrs.  Sinclair 
Stevenson  translates  "matter  which  possesses  colour,  smell,  taste  and 
form,  and  is  perceptible  to  touch."    {The  Heart  of  Jainism  [Oxford  Uni- 

257 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

with  some  surprise  that  ordinary  matter  is  not  in  this  list.  It  is 
odd  to  find  that  the  Jainas,  who  in  their  explanation  of  the 
soul's  Karma  are  so  naively  materialistic,  when  they  come  to 
deal  directly  with  what  we  know  as  matter  may  almost  be 
called  panpsychists.  For  matter,  or  at  any  rate  a  great  deal 
of  it,  is  for  them  the  lowest  form  of  life,  and  is  at  least  poten- 
tially conscious.  Mahavira  thus  by  many  a  century  antici- 
pates Leibnitz.  Stones  and  lumps  of  earth,  water  —  yes,  even 
such  things  as  wind  and  atoms  —  are  for  the  Jainas  living 
beings,^  —  jivas  —  and  as  such  members  of  the  great  line  of 
evolution  which  leads  up  through  plants,  animals,  and  men  to 
the  liberated  spirits  who  have  perfect  knowledge,  being  no 
longer  closed  grossly  in  by  the  muddy  vesture  of  our  clay.  To 
rise  in  the  scale  and  become  freed  from  body  and  its  woes  is  or 
should  be  the  aim  of  all.  But  this  is  difficult,  because  subtle 
matter  pours  into  our  souls  through  forty-two  different  chan- 
nels (seventeen  major  and  twenty-five  minor)  and  thus  forms 
the  eight  different  kinds  of  Karma  which  we  carry  with  us 
into  the  next  life.  (The  writers  of  the  Jaina  sacred  books  are 
very  systematic  thinkers  and  particularly  "strong"  on  arith- 
metic. They  know  just  how  many  different  kinds  of  different 
things  there  are  in  the  universe  and  they  have  them  all  tab- 
ulated and  numbered,  so  that  they  shall  have  a  place  for 
everything  and  everything  in  its  place, )2    These   forty-two 

versity  Press,  1915],  p.  108.)  But  it  evidently  is  not  "matter"  in  our  sense 
of  the  word,  since  "things  belonging  to  this  earth,  such  as  stones,  lumps 
of  clay,  salts,  chalk,  diamonds,  and  other  minerals,"  and  also  "water,  rain, 
dew,  fog,  melted  snow,  melted  hail,  fire,  a  magnet,  electricity,  a  meteor, 
flintstone  sparks,"  as  well  as  air  and  "all  sorts  of  wind,"  all  are  classed 
under  one  of  the  five  kinds  of  jiva,  or  living  things.  It  would  therefore  seem 
that  Pudgalastikaya  can  hardly  mean  matter,  and  it  is  perhaps  best  to 
translate  it  by  the  ambiguous  phrase,  "substance  possessing  sensuous 
qualities."  These  sensuous  qualities,  it  will  be  noted,  are  regarded  as  exist- 
ing objectively  —  a  rather  odd  view  for  a  panpsychist. 

^  The  attempt  to  take  a  realistic  view  of  matter  and  to  explain  various 
characteristics  of  the  soul  by  means  of  it,  and  at  the  same  time  to  explain 
matter  as  being  in  itself  composed  of  jivas,  or  souls,  indicates  a  confusion 
of  thought.  If  matter  is  really  soul,  then  how  are  the  soul's  qualities  and 
its  fate  to  be  explained  by  means  of  matter? 

^  Thus  jiva  may  be  classified  in  thirteen  different  ways;  there  are  five 
kinds  of  ajiva,  nine  kinds  of  merit,  and  forty-two  fruits  of  merit;  there  are 
eighteen  kinds  of  sin,  eighty-two  results  of  sin,  and  eight  kinds  of  Karma; 
the  channels  by  which  Karma  enters,  as  has  been  said,  number  seventeen 

258 


THE  JAINAS 

"  Asravas,"  inflowings,  as  they  are  called,  are  various  passions, 
particularly  anger  in  all  its  possible  shades  of  strength,  to- 
gether with  pride,  illusion,  lack  of  self-control,  etc.;  in  short, 
be  it  noted,  they  all  belong  to  the  moral  category. 

It  is  these  forty-two  classes  that  determine  our  Karma.  To- 
gether with  all  other  religions  native  to  India,  the  Jainas  lay 
great  stress  on  Karma  as  the  one  satisfactory  and  complete 
solution  of  the  problem  of  the  ills  of  life.  In  fact,  they  carry  it 
into  even  greater  detail  than  do  the  Hindus,  for  the  elaborate 
systematization  found  in  their  sacred  books  enables  them  not 
only  to  say  in  a  general  way  that  So-and-So  must  have  been  a 
sinner  in  a  previous  existence,  but  in  certain  cases  to  analyze 
his  symptoms  so  as  to  determine  exactly  the  nature  of  his  for- 
mer sins.  Thus,  Mrs.  Sinclair  Stevenson  writes  of  a  Jaina  gen- 
tleman who  told  her  "that  as  his  family  consisted  only  of 
daughters,  he  found  it  a  great  expense  to  marry  them  all  off, 
but  he  dared  not  complain,  as  all  his  friends  assured  him  it  was 
only  his  just  punishment  for  having  misappropriated  funds  in 
a  previous  existence."  ^  A  sad  example  of  this  belief  in  Karma 
is  the  Jaina  doctrine  that  if  a  child-wife  loses  her  husband  it  is 
as  a  punishment  for  having  been  unfaithful  to  a  husband  in  a 
previous  existence.  Surely  the  little  widow  is  not  greatly  com- 
forted by  believing  in  her  own  guilt,  nor  is  her  lot  made  the 
more  bearable  by  those  around  her  because  of  their  certainty 
that  through  her  sins  she  was  responsible  for  her  husband's 
premature  death. 

Rebirth  in  another  human  body  is  not  the  only  possible  fate 
provided  by  Jaina  philosophy.  A  wicked  man  may  in  his  next 
incarnation  be  bom  an  animal  or  even  a  vegetable.  And  this 
for  the  Jaina  is  no  joke.  In  spite  of  the  Indian's  consideration 
for  animal  life,  there  would  be  little  pleasure  in  being  bom  a 
dog  in  India,  and  (as  Mrs.  Stevenson  suggests)  consider  the 
humiliation  of  being  a  potato,  or  perhaps  an  onion!  But  worse 
than  that  is  the  fate  of  being  bom  in  one  of  the  hells  —  and 
there  are  seven  of  them.    And  though  punishment  in  hell  is 

major  and  twenty-five  minor;  Karma  may  be  impeded  in  just  fifty-seven 
ways  and  destroyed  by  six  austerities;  there  are  four  kinds  of  bondage  to 
Karma;  and  fifteen  kinds  of  beings  inhabit  Moksha. 

*  NoUs  on  Modern  Jainism  (Oxford,  Blackwell,  1910),  p.  78. 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

not  eternal,  the  wicked  go  there  for  long-term  sentences  and 
emerge  from  them,  as  a  rule,  only  through  the  lower  forms  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life. 

But  if  there  are  seven  hells,  there  are  twenty-six  heavens. 
The  lower  are  not  altogether  void  of  pain  and  imperfection; 
but  joy  predominates,  and  there  is  a  steady  progress  from  one 
to  the  other  (with  occasional  rebirths  as  ascetics)  until  one 
reaches  Moksha,  where  every  perfection  dwells.  Here  finally 
one  becomes  free  from  body  and  free  from  all  the  eight  kinds 
of  Karma.  Endless  bliss  is  here,  as  distinct  from  pleasure,  for 
here  at  length  one  becomes  pure  Soul. 

The  Jaina  books  describe  minutely  the  process  of  spiritual 
evolution  that  leads  the  natural  man  on  and  up  until  at  last 
he  attains  to  Moksha.  In  proper  systematic  fashion,  moreover, 
this  process  is  divided  into  exactly  fourteen  stages.  The  des- 
cription of  it  forms  thus  a  kind  of  psychology  of  conversion. 
It  is  not  possible,  however,  for  all  human  beings  to  advance 
indefinitely  upon  this  path  to  liberation  in  the  present  life. 
Although  in  theory  the  Jaina  religion  is  open  to  all,  the  best 
course  for  the  low-caste  aspirant  for  Moksha  is  to  die  and  be 
reborn  in  a  higher  caste;  for  there  is  no  place  for  him,  in  his 
present  vile  state,  within  a  Jaina  temple.  For  the  Jainas  keep 
caste  (though  not  so  rigidly  as  the  Hindus),  and  in  fact  are 
divided  by  caste  lines  among  themselves.  And  not  only  the 
Pariah,  but  even  high-caste  women  also,  —  including  the  nuns 
themselves,  —  find  it  hard  to  rise  very  high  on  the  Jaina  ladder 
to  salvation.  According  to  the  Digambaras  no  woman  can 
reach  higher  than  the  eighth  step  of  the  ladder;  while  the  Sve- 
tambaras  and  Sthanakavasis  insist  that,  though  some  women 
may  attain  to  the  highest  stage,  only  twenty  women  actually 
do  so  for  every  one  hundred  and  eight  men.  Even  for  men  who 
have  not  turned  monks  the  prospect  of  Moksha  is  not  bright. 
And  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  discussion  of  all  these  possibilities 
turns  out  to  be  rather  academic,  since  we  are  informed  that  no 
one  can  enter  into  Moksha  for  the  next  18,548  years  anyhow. 
The  last  man  who  entered  into  Moksha  died  three  years  after 
Mahavira;  and  no  one  else  is  to  be  admitted  during  the  rest  of 
this  cycle  —  which  is  to  last  until  the  year  a.d.  20,463.  Hence 
it  behooves  the  pious  Jaina  to  cultivate  the  virtue  of  patience. 
260 


THE  JAINAS 

Patience,  however,  is  a  virtue  not  uncommon  in  India,  and  the 
Jaina  is  not  so  foolish  as  to  "try  to  hustle  the  East,"  and  still 
less  the  East's  Providence.  There  are  many  good  things  this 
side  of  Moksha;  and  I  am  not  sure  but  they  attract  the  lay 
brother  quite  as  much  as  the  rather  dull  state  of  Moksha, 
which,  as  we  shall  see,  appears  to  be  characterized  chiefly  by 
indifference  to  everything. 

But  the  state  of  Moksha  remains,  at  least  in  theory,  the 
bright  ideal  of  Jainism;  and  the  twenty-four  Tirthankaras, 
together  with  many  lesser  lights,  have  entered  into  it.  The 
Tirthankaras  are  regarded  by  the  Jainas  as  at  once  the  found- 
ers or  revealers  and  the  ideals  of  their  religion.  The  last  of 
them  was  Mahavira,  the  historical  preacher.  But,  as  I  said 
at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  it  is  probable  that  Mahavira 
had  predecessors;  and  the  Jainas  have  given  him  twenty-three 
of  them,  each  with  a  name  and  date  of  his  own.  They  are 
known  as  Tirthankaras,  or  "ford-finders,"  because  it  was  they 
who  discovered  a  way  through  the  wild  waters  of  this  world 
into  the  realm  of  the  ideal.  They  are  accepted  by  the  Jainas 
(and  Mrs.  Besant)  as  historical  characters;  in  fact,  Mrs.  Besant 
assures  the  Jainas  that  the  only  reason  European  scholars 
doubt  the  historicity  of  any  of  these  ancient  gentlemen  is 
because  young  Europe  is  jealous  of  the  antiquity  of  Asia. 
Antiquity  they  certainly  have,  if  we  may  believe  the  Jainas. 
The  first  of  them,  "Lord  Adinath"  or  " Rishabhadeva,"  ap- 
peared 100,000,000,000,000  palya  ago.  Now,  a  palya  is  the 
length  of  time  it  would  take  to  empty  a  well  a  mile  square 
stuffed  full  of  fine  hairs,  if  one  hair  were  pulled  out  every 
century.^ 

But  the  Tirthankaras  are  of  importance  to  the  Jainism  of 
to-day  not  chiefly  in  their  capacity  of  historical  or  mythical 
founders  and  revealers,  but  as  ideals  set  for  the  emulation  of 
their  followers.  They  are  supposed  to  have  attained  to  Moksha, 
or  something  very  like  it,  in  this  life;  for  Moksha,  or  heaven, 
to  the  Jaina  is  not  so  much  a  place  as  a  state  of  mind.  It  is  a 
place,  too,  no  doubt  —  the  highest  point  in  the  universe,  to 

1  Incidentally,  let  me  add,  Lord  Adinath  seems  to  have  been  sadly  at- 
tached to  this  wicked  world,  for  he  had  to  live  8,400,000  years  before  he 
succeeded  in  attaining  to  Moksha. 

261 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

which  the  soul  floats  up  (by  the  laws  of  gravity)  ^  after  having 
got  rid  of  all  matter.  This  is  the  rather  naive  and  realistic  side 
of  their  doctrine.  But  the  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  spiritual 
rather  than  upon  the  materialistic  side,  and  the  characteristics 
of  Moksha  most  commonly  thought  of  are  its  psychical  ones. 
It  is  these  that  are  of  interest  to  us  as  having  influence  over 
the  life  of  the  Jainas  and  coloring  their  ideals.  One  of  my  Jaina 
friends  described  the  Tirthankaras  in  Moksha  as  being  immor- 
tal and  dwelling  in  perfect  freedom  forevermore.  They  have 
won  eternal  peace  —  they  are  the  "  Conquerors  "  —  and  have  no 
more  to  fear.  This  means,  he  said,  that  they  are  without  need, 
without  care,  without  desire,  without  relation  to  the  chang- 
ing. Though  conceived  as  having  infinite  power,  they  never 
use  it,  for  they  want  nothing.  When  asked  as  to  the  nature  of 
their  consciousness,  my  friend  could  not  tell  me.  Certainly 
they  are  conscious,  he  said;  but  apparently  they  are  not  think- 
ing of  anything.  They  are  free  from  the  particular.  Their  con- 
sciousness is  a  state  of  peace  raised  to  the  highest  degree.  And 
they  are,  of  course,  out  of  all  relation  to  us  and  quite  uninflu- 
enced by  anything  that  we  can  do  or  say.^  To  this  description 
the  books  in  their  systematic  fashion  add  certain  other  marks. 
The  Tirthankaras  —  or  any  one  else  who  has  attained  to 
Moksha  —  has  exactly  eighteen  characteristics,  most  of  which, 
on  examination,  prove  to  be  of  a  negative  sort.  Anger,  lust, 
greed,  ignorance,  sleepiness,  desire  are  gone.  Gone  also  are  all 
sorrow,  pleasure,  and  sense  of  humor;  for  (as  the  Jainas  explain) 
the  sense  of  humor  being  due  to  some  unfamiliar  connection  of 
ideas,  it  is  impossible  to  one  who  has  attained  complete  knowl- 
edge. But  the  chief  characteristic  of  Moksha  is  the  absence  of 
attachment,  the  killing-out  of  desire,  which  forms  so  important 
a  part  of  the  Buddhist  Nirvana.  In  Moksha  one  attains  com- 
plete indifference  to  all  that  happens;  and  thus  becomes  inde- 
pendent and  free.   It  is  related  of  Mahavira  that,  even  in  this 

1  Dante  seems  to  have  had  a  conception  of  the  ascent  of  the  soul,  up- 
ward from  the  earth,  in  some  ways  similar  to  the  Jaina  view.  See  the 
Paradiso,  canto  i. 

^  According  to  Mrs.  Stevenson  it  is  the  Tirthankara  in  his  capacity  of 
man  rather  than  as  a  siddha,  or  inhabitant  of  Moksha,  that  is  worshiped. 
This,  however,  is  a  rather  fine  distinction,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  many 
of  the  Jainas  know  anything  about  it. 

262 


THE   JAINAS 

life,  "he  was  indifferent  alike  to  the  smell  of  ordure  and  of  san- 
dalwood, to  straw  and  to  jewels,  dirt  and  gold,  pleasure  and 
pain,  attached  neither  to  this  world  nor  to  that  beyond,  desir- 
ing neither  life  nor  death."  ^ 

In  strict  theory,  as  I  have  said,  the  Tirthankaras  are  merely 
ideals  for  the  emulation  of  the  brethren.  They  are  far  from 
being  gods ;  yet  they  are  the  nearest  approach  to  gods  that  the 
orthodox  Jaina  possesses,  and  they  are  commonly  referred  to 
as  divine.  In  this  respect  Jainism  recalls  forcibly  Comte's 
"ReHgion  of  Humanity'."  Both  systems  are  emphatically 
atheistic,  yet  both  feel  the  need  of  some  semi-divine  ideal  as  a 
help  to  the  weakness  of  our  flesh.  And  both  seek  to  turn  their 
philosophy  into  religion  by  setting  up  for  our  admiration  and 
our  worship  a  group  of  human  beings  who  are  conceived  as 
having  gone  through  what  we  are  experiencing,  and  as  having 
conquered  and  become  all  that  we  hope  to  be.  The  system  of 
Mahavira,  however,  has  an  advantage  over  that  of  Comte  in 
choosing  for  its  ideals  certain  almost  unknown  or  quite  mythi- 
cal personages,  who  therefore  can  be  endowed  by  the  imagina- 
tion with  every  virtue;  and  the  further  and  greater  advantage 
that  its  conquerors  are  conceived  as  having  conquered  death  as 
well  as  sin,  and  as  dwelling  in  the  glorious  light  of  an  eternal 
and  self-conscious  life;  whereas  Comte's  ideals  are  ideals  only, 
themselves  dead  and  gone  long  ago,  and  existing  now  only  in 
the  memories  of  us  frail  creatures  of  a  day,  who  are  so  soon  to 
follow  them  into  the  thoughtless  abyss  of  an  endless  night, 
in  which  shall  perish  also  all  influence  and  trace  of  vice  or 
virtue. 

The  Tirthankaras,  then,  are  the  ideals  and  Moksha  the  goal 
of  Jainism;  and  the  attainment  of  this  goal  is  what  it  means 
by  salvation.  We  can,  therefore,  now  come  nearer  to  the  great 
question :  IVhat  must  I  do  to  he  saved?  What,  in  other  words, 
are  the  means  laid  down  by  Jainism  for  the  checking  of  Karma 
and  the  purifying  of  the  soul? 

The  most  elementary  and  fundamental  of  these  means  are 
the  five  great  vows  or  rules  of  conduct,  and  the  seven  supple- 
mentary ones,  which  ever>'  laN-man  is  supposed  to  observe. 

1  Kalpa  Sutra,  119.  (Jacobi's  translation,  S.B.E.  Vol.  X,  American  ed. 
New  York,  Scribners,  1901.) 

263 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

The  first  of  these  is  the  famous  "ahimsa"  vow  against  the 
taking  of  life.^  With  the  monk  this  is  an  exceedingly  serious 
matter  —  as  the  reader  will  see  if  he  recalls  how  far  life  is  sup- 
posed, by  Jaina  philosophy,  to  extend.  But  to  the  layman  the 
vow  is  somewhat  softened  down  by  the  exclusion  from  it  of 
jivas  with  only  one  sense;  that  is,  what  we  should  call  non- 
organic things,  such  as  earth,  water,  and  air,  and  also  most  veg- 
etables and  fruits.  These  the  Jaina  layman  may  slay  and  eat. 
Even  with  this  limitation,  however,  the  vow  has  certain  very 
far-reaching  effects.  For  one  thing  it  makes  all  Jainas  vegeta- 
rians. There  are,  moreover,  certain  kinds  of  vegetables,  such 
as  carrots,  potatoes,  turnips,  —  in  short,  all  that  grow  under- 
ground, —  which  are  conceived  of  as  not  merely  being  alive 
but  as  having  many  lives  in  one  body;  and  these  the  good  Jaina 
must  not  eat, 2  In  spite  of  these  restrictions,  however,  the  diet 
of  the  Jaina  can  have  considerable  variety,  and  with  good 
cooking  can  be  very  tasty.  I  had  lunch  at  the  Svetambara 
rest-house  and  school  in  Benares  and  can  testify  to  the  pleas- 
ant flavor  of  the  twenty-one  different  kinds  of  food  that  were 
served.  Eating  by  lamp  light  is  forbidden,  since  the  lamps 
may  kill  many  insects.  Even  certain  kinds  of  occupation  are 
precluded  by  this  rule  of  ahimsa,  including  agriculture  and 
most  manufacturing.  For  ploughing  may  destroy  much  an- 
imal and  vegetable  life  (not  to  mention  the  clods  of  earth 
which  include  innumerable  living  things);  and  manufacture 
usually  involves  fire  or  some  other  danger  to  insects.  Hence, 
most  of  the  Jainas  are  dealers  in  jewels,  money-lenders,  or  law- 
yers, or  have  some  equally  innocent  profession.  They  may  also 


1  Cf.  the  vows  of  the  Hindu  monk,  p.  155  of  this  book. 

2  The  rule  against  the  eating  of  these  vegetables  is  being  modified  by 
some  of  the  more  liberal  Jainas,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  extract 
from  the  Jaina  Gazette  for  November,  1914.  The  students  of  a  Jaina  board- 
ing-school in  Allahabad,  it  seems,  recently  formed  an  association  whose 
excellent  work  is  reported  in  the  article  referred  to,  which  then  continues: 
"That  its  work  has  been  appreciated  by  those  who  have  come  in  contact 
with  it  may  in  some  measure  be  inferred  from  the  valuable  assistance  given 
us  by  the  secretary  of  the  Jaina  boarding-house,  by  considering  our  requests 
and  making  arrangements  that  they  should  be  granted.  Modification  in 
the  rules  of  the  Jaina  boarding-house  in  the  matter  of  food-restriction  is  due 
to  this  fact  and  the  students  are  not  prohibited  now  from  eating  potatoes. 
The  association  is  very  grateful  to  him." 

264 


THE  JAINAS 

be  landowners,  so  long  as  they  do  not  themselves  cultivate  their 
land,  but  let  it  out  to  the  wicked  for  that  purpose. 

A  more  pleasing,  though  hardly  less  bizarre,  result  of  the 
law  of  ahimsa  is  the  establishment  by  the  Jainas  of  numerous 
animal  asylums  and  hospitals.  Sickly  and  crippled  cows,  dogs, 
horses,  etc.,  are  gathered  and  cared  for  by  these  oddly  tender- 
hearted people.  The  animal  asylum  in  Ahmedabad  —  a  kind 
of  Old  Animals'  Home  —  contains  about  eight  hundred  four- 
footed  lodgers,  besides  many  winged  guests;  and  no  one  knows 
how  many  hungry  insects,  to  whom,  in  fact,  one  entire  room  is 
devoted.  One  also  occasionally  sees  a  Jaina  (or  a  Hindu)  going 
along  the  roadside  and  sprinkling  food  near  ant-hills  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  little  inhabitants.  Doubtless  in  their  solici- 
tude for  animal  life  the  Jainas  are  often  absurd.  Yet  the  accusa- 
tion of  being  too  kind  to  animals  is  not  altogether  dishonorable. 
And  in  India,  as  well  as  in  many  Christian  countries,  there  is 
crying  need  of  more  s>Tnpathy  with  our  four-footed  brothers. 
To  the  honor  of  the  Jainas  be  it  said  one  cannot  read  far  in 
modern  Jaina  publications  without  coming  upon  appeal  after 
appeal  for  greater  kindness  to  the  dumb  and  suffering  brutes. 
For  the  vow  not  to  kill  is  not  merely  negative.  "The  man  who 
takes  this  vow  must  avoid  five  faults  in  the  treatment  of  ani- 
mals: he  must  never  tie  an  animal  up  too  tightly;  beat  it  un- 
mercifully; cut  its  limbs;  overload  or  overwork  it;  or  neglect 
to  feed  it  properly."  ^ 

The  second  vow  is  against  lying,  dishonesty,  and  exaggera- 
tion. The  third  is  against  stealing.  "In  especial,  a  man  is 
warned  never  to  buy  stolen  property,  never  to  encourage  an- 
other in  thieving,  never  to  act  seditiously,  to  smuggle  or  to 
work  in  any  way  against  the  Government;  nor  to  use  false 
weights  or  measures,  to  adulterate  goods  or  to  sell  them  false 
to  sample. "2  It  is  said  that  some  of  the  Jaina  merchants  adopt 
a  liberal  interpretation  of  the  second  and  third  vows.  The 
fourth  rule  is  against  adultery  or  incontinence.  The  Jainas 
regard  all  sexual  relations  as  obstacles  in  the  progress  of  the 
soul,  since  they  tend  to  increase  the  influx  of  Karma.  Hence, 
for  one  who  is  really  in  earnest  about  his  salvation  the  celibate 
life  is  best.   Yet  marriage  is  not  wrong  —  if  conjugal  fidelity 

'  Mrs.  Stevenson,  The  Heart  of  Jainism,  p.  206.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  208.. 

265 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  a  fair  amount  of  continence  be  observed;  and  in  fact  the 
Svetambaras  even  permit  a  man  to  have  two  wives  if  it  is  clear 
that  the  first  wife  can  bear  no  children.  The  fifth  vow  is  in- 
tended to  prevent  covetousness  or  inordinate  desire  for  posses- 
sions by  inducing  the  individual  to  set  an  arbitrary  limit  on 
the  amount  of  worldly  goods  which  he  will  ever  acquire.  It 
reads  thus:  "  I  take  a  vow  not  to  possess  more  of  the  following 
things  than  I  have  allowed  myself:  a  certain  fixed  quantity 
of  houses  and  fields,  of  silver  and  gold,  of  coins  and  grain,  of 
two-footed  or  four-footed  creatures,  furniture  and  plenishing. 
Beyond  this  limit  I  will  regard  nothing  as  my  own  posses- 
sion." ^ 

Of  the  seven  remaining  vows  one  enforces  hospitality  toward 
Jaina  monks,  while  the  six  others  are  concerned  with  the 
training  of  the  mind.  Some  of  these  are  vows  which  one  occa- 
sionally takes  to  perform  certain  acts  of  slight  asceticism,  such 
as  limiting,  either  for  a  short  period  or  for  life,  the  number  of 
places  one  will  visit,  the  number  of  things  one  will  use,  the 
different  foods  that  he  will  eat,  etc.  One  vows,  for  instance, 
that  for  a  month  he  will  not  touch  his  favorite  food;  or  in  the 
morning  he  pledges  himself  to  sit  down  on  no  more  than  a  cer- 
tain number  of  seats  that  day.  This  sort  of  thing  to  us  West- 
erners seems  absurd;  and  with  what  judgment  we  judge  we 
are  judged.  It  seems  absurd  to  us  partly  because  we  fail  to 
realize  that  self-control  is  a  habit  which  must  be  cultivated 
if  it  is  to  be  attained,  and  that  slightly  ascetic  tasks  are  to 
the  moral  athlete  what  dumb-bells  and  chest-weights  are  to  the 
gymnast;  and  largely  because  the  highest  form  of  self-control 
—  the  complete  dominance  of  the  flesh  by  the  spirit  —  does 
not  appeal  to  us  as  particularly  desirable. 

In  addition  to  these  twelve  vows,  the  Jaina  books  detail 
some  fifty-seven  different  ways  in  which  Karma  may  be  im- 
peded and  the  soul  gradually  freed.  In  general,  however,  they 
cover  much  the  same  ground  as  the  twelve  vows,  and  we  need 
not  go  into  them  here.  Most  of  them  have  to  do  with  slightly 
ascetic  practices,  —  mind  training,  inhibition  of  evil  or  weak- 
ening thoughts,  and  the  direction  of  the  mind  in  proper  chan- 
nels through  contemplation  of  suitable  subjects. 
1  Mrs.  Stevenson,  op.  cit.,  p.  209. 
266 


THE  JAINAS 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  in  Jainism,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  in  Christianity,  Judaism,  and  Mohammedanism  on 
the  other,  morality  stands  on  quite  different  bases.  For  the 
three  latter  the  moral  laws  are  divine  commands.  For  Jainism 
they  are  merely  means  which  the  wise  man  will  take  if  he 
really  wishes  to  attain  his  goal.  There  is  no  Categorical  Im- 
perative for  the  Jaina.  It  lies  entirely  with  him  whether  he 
will  make  use  of  these  means  or  not.  He  has  a  perfect  right, 
if  he  so  wishes,  to  assimilate  Karma  and  be  bom  a  potato.^ 

All  of  these  means  are  recommended  for  the  layman  and  lay- 
woman,  but  are  indispensable  for  the  monks  and  nuns  if  they 
are  to  take  their  profession  seriously.  The  whole  of  the  mo- 
nastic life  is  so  arranged  as  to  break  all  worldly  ties  and  make 
one  feel  that  here  we  have  no  continuing  city  and  that  Moksha 
is  our  home.  The  original  rule  of  the  Jaina  orders  (consider- 
ably modified  to-day)  permitted  them  to  stay  but  a  week  in  a 
village  and  a  month  in  a  town  —  except  during  the  rainy  sea- 
son, when,  indeed,  they  were,  and  are,  charged  to  remain  for 
the  entire  four  months  in  one  place.  The  purpose  of  this  is  not 
the  protection  of  the  monks  or  nuns  from  the  downpour  and  the 
heat;  it  is  for  the  protection  of  the  plant  and  insect  life  which 
so  abounds  at  that  period  and  which  might  be  injured  by  the 
inadvertent  steps  of  the  wandering  brothers  and  sisters.  Hence 
they  stay  in  the  upasaro  (rest-house)  where  they  find  them- 
selves at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season  until  the  rains  are 
over.  These  rest-houses  are  built  for  their  benefit  by  laymen 
of  piety  who  hope  thereby  to  acquire  merit,  and  their  sim- 
plicity and  lack  of  adornment  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the 
elaborate  and  luxurious  construction  and  decoration  of  the 
Buddhist  monasteries  in  Burma  and  Ceylon.  They  consist 
sometimes  of  large  and  barren  halls  in  which  are  many  beds, 
sometimes  of  four  lines  of  cells  surrounding  a  court. 

'  It  will  be  seen  that  moral  vows  and  methods  for  moral  advancement 
form  the  heart  of  Jainism.  Yet  the  strictness  of  these  rules  is  toned  down 
considerably  for  the  layman  who  is  not  specially  ambitious  for  his  soul's 
progress.  Mrs.  Stevenson  quotes  an  odd  passage  from  one  of  the  new  Jaina 
religious  schoolbooks.  The  subject  under  discussion  is  the  eighteen  kinds 
of  sin,  and  at  the  end  these  words  are  added:  "Children,  you  must  not  com- 
mit such  sins  aimlessly,  where  no  end  can  be  gained  for  yourselves  and  the 
interests  of  your  relations  are  not  concerned;  moreover,  sins  should  be  kept 

267 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

When  the  monk  enters  the  order  (and  what  I  say  of  the 
monk  in  this  paragraph  holds  equally  of  the  nun)  a  lock  of  his 
hair  is  pulled  out  by  the  roots  (hair  by  hair)  and  the  rest  of  his 
head  shaved;  and  thereafter  at  least  once  every  year  every  hair 
of  his  head  must  be  pulled  out.  He  must  own  no  property  save 
a  very  few  garments,  a  rod,  five  wooden  pots,  a  straining- 
cloth,  a  veil,  and  a  brush.  These  last  three  things  are  of  special 
importance;  for  he  must  strain  all  the  water  that  he  drinks  lest 
it  should  contain  insects  whose  lives  would  thus  be  sacrificed ; 
he  must  place  the  veil  over  his  mouth  whenever  the  atmosphere 
is  such  that  there  is  danger  of  his  inhaling  insects,  and  also  on 
official  occasions  as  when  preaching;  ^  and  with  the  brush  he 
must  sweep  the  floor  before  sitting  down,  and  sometimes  the 
ground  in  front  of  him  as  he  walks,  lest  he  should  sit  or  tread 
upon  some  immortal  soul.  His  food  and  water  he  must  beg  and 
(like  the  Hindu  sannyasi)  he  is  allowed  but  one  meal  a  day. 
This,  of  course,  must  be  entirely  vegetarian  and  very  limited 
in  its  choice  of  vegetables.  For  the  stricter  monks  it  consists 
chiefly  of  rice  and  other  cereals,  dhal  or  pulse,  ghi,  milk,  mo- 
lasses, fruits,  and  occasional  sweets.  All  the  water  that  he 
drinks  must  be  boiled  —  by  some  one  else.  This  is  interesting, 
as  it  reflects  the  rather  egoistic  morality  which  to  some  extent 
characterizes  most  non-Christian  (and  also  many  so-called 
Christian)  ethical  codes.  The  water  must  be  boiled  (and  must 
be  drunk  within  four  hours  after  the  boiling)  so  that  the  monk 
may  not  be  guilty  of  destroying  life  by  drinking  it.  But  he 
must  not  boil  it  himself,  for  by  so  doing  he  would  certainly 
destroy  life;  at  least  so  thinks  the  Jaina,  and  considering  the 
drinking-water  one  gets  in  India  he  is  probably  correct.  Hence 
some  one  else  must  assume  the  guilt  of  murder  in  order  to  pre- 
serve his  innocence.  Each  day  he  must  confess  his  sins  morn- 
ing and  night  to  his  guru  or  superior.  A  certain  part  of  his  time 
must  be  given  to  study  of  the  sacred  books  and  to  contem- 
plation and  sometimes  to  the  instruction  of  those  laymen  who 

within  bounds."   Advice  of  this  sort,  of  course,  is  not  for  the  monk  or  for 
the  layman  who  seriously  desires  moral  advancement. 

1  It  is  not  merely  for  the  protection  of  insects  in  the  water  and  air  that 
the  monk  takes  these  precautions,  but  also  for  the  protection  of  the  air  and 
water  themselves,  which,  it  will  be  remembered,  are  jiva,  and  which  the 
monk  vows  not  to  kill. 

268 


THE   JAINAS 

care  to  learn. ^  In  passing  through  an  Indian  village  one  some- 
times comes  upon  a  throng  of  natives,  the  men  on  one  side,  the 
women  on  the  other,  and  between  them,  on  an  improvised 
platform,  two  wandering  Jaina  monks,  facing  the  men  and 
with  their  backs  turned  to  the  ladies,  and  with  veils  over  their 
mouths,  preaching  on  the  duty  of  ahimsa  or  on  some  other 
moral  doctrine,  and  evidently  making  considerable  impres- 
sion on  their  auditors. 

The  vows  and  rules  of  conduct  of  the  layman  must  of  course 
be  observed  by  the  monk  with  much  greater  rigor.  Absolute 
celibacy  and  absolute  renunciation  of  the  world  and  all  its 
pleasures  are  of  course  demanded.  In  addition  to  this  he  must 
practice  certain  austerities  (which  in  proper  Jaina  fashion  are 
divided  into  six  external  and  six  internal  ones),  such  as  longer 
or  shorter  fasts,  endurance  of  excessive  heat  or  cold,  the  prac- 
tice of  indifference,  etc.  "  In  a  village  or  in  a  forest,  examining 
the  ground  and  recognizing  it  as  free  from  living  beings,  the 
monk  should  spread  the  straw.  Without  food  he  should  lie 
down  and  bear  the  pains  which  attack  him.  He  should  not 
for  too  long  a  time  give  way  to  worldly  feelings  which  over- 
come him.  When  crawling  animals  feed  on  his  flesh  and  blood, 
he  should  neither  kill  them  nor  rub  the  wound.  Though  these 
animals  destroy  the  body,  he  should  not  stir  from  his  posi- 
tion." 2  And  the  ideal  monk  will  at  the  end  depart  this  life 
by  deliberate  star\'ation.  This,  indeed,  is  no  longer  common; 
but  it  does  occasionally  happen,  and  the  heads  of  the  great 
orders  often  complete  their  present  incarnations  in  that  laud- 
able manner.  It  is  recommended  as  one  of  the  greatest  helps 
in  the  pathway  of  deliverance. 

No  summary  of  Jaina  ethics  would  be  complete  without  at 
least  a  reference  to  their  catalogue  of  sins.  The  list  is  t\-pically 
Jaina,  and  is  elaborately  subdivided.  It  consists  of  just  eight- 
een principal  sins,  which  are  the  following:  (i)  the  taking  of 
life,  (2)  untruthfulness  (though  little  white  lies  are  permis- 
sible), (3)  dishonesty^  (including  treason  and  law-breaking),  (4) 
unchastit\',  (5)  covetousness,  (6)  anger,  (7)  conceit,  (8)  intrigue 
or  cheating,  (9)  greed,  (10)  over-fondness  for  anything  or  any 

'  Jaina  monks  are  said,  however,  to  be  a  rather  ignorant  and  indolent 
lot,  with  little  scholarly  interest.  '  Akaranka  Sutra,  i,  7,  8. 

269 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

one  (even  too  great  affection  for  a  relative  or  guru,  since  this 
hinders  detachment  from  the  world),  (ii)  hatred  or  envy,  (12) 
quarrelsomeness,  (13)  slander,  (14)  telling  malicious  stories, 
(15)  fault-finding,  (16)  lack  of  self-control,  (17)  hypocrisy  or 
suggestio  falsi,  (18)  false  faith,  such  as  apostasy  from  Jainism 
or  the  partial  adoption  of  some  other  religion. 

Mrs.  Stevenson,  from  whom  I  have  taken  this  list,  makes 
many  excellent  comments  on  the  Jaina  view  of  sin,  tvvo  of 
which  are  of  special  importance.  She  points  out,  namely,  the 
psychological  insight  shown  in  the  Jaina  treatment  of  these 
various  sins,  and  also  the  actual  application  of  the  list.  "The 
value  of  Jaina  philosophy,"  she  writes,  "lies  not  only  in  the 
fact  that  it,  unlike  Hinduism,  has  correlated  ethical  teaching 
with  its  metaphysical  system,  but  also  in  the  amazing  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  which  its  ethics  display."  In  their  treat- 
ment of  the  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  sins,  for  instance 
(anger,  conceit,  intrigue,  greed),  they  make  four  degrees  of 
indulgence,  each  involving  more  guilt  than  the  preceding,  and 
differing  only  in  the  length  of  time  the  indulgence  has  lasted. 
Thus,  "they  have  seized  on  an  essential  truth,  that  the  length 
of  time  a  sin  is  indulged  in  affects  the  nature  of  the  sin ;  for  sins 
grow  worse  through  long  keeping."  ^ 

In  the  training  of  the  moral  life  the  Jainas  make  use  not 
only  of  rules  and  vows  but  of  confession  and  penance.  At  more 
or  less  regular  intervals  every  good  Jaina  layman  confesses  his 
sins  to  some  sadhu  or  monk,  making  use  of  the  twelve  vows  and 
the  list  of  eighteen  sins  to  refresh  his  memory,  and  performs 
the  penance  assigned  him.  The  monks  make  daily  confession. 
Thus,  as  Mrs.  Stevenson  points  out,  "to  judge  this  list  fairly 
one  must  remember  that  it  is  not  an  unused  piece  of  lumber 
stored  away  in  the  Jaina  statute  book,  but  that  the  most  care- 
less of  Jainas  test  their  consciences  by  it  at  least  once  every 
year,  and  that  the  more  devout  use  it  every  four  months,  and 
some  every  fortnight.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  such  lists,  to- 
gether with  kindred  enactments,  have  educated  the  Jaina  con- 
science to  some  knowledge  of  what  sin  is."  ^ 

But  the  Jaina  religion  in  its  present  popular  form  includes 
not  only  moral  and  ascetic  rules,  but  genuine  worship   or 
1  The  Heart  of  Jainism,  p.  122.  *  Op.  cit.,  p.  132. 

270 


THE  JAINAS 

puja  as  well.  The  puja,  of  course,  is  to  the  Tirthankaras,  and 
is  probably  an  addition  introduced  by  the  laymen  into  the 
original  moral  philosophy  of  Mahavira.  For  the  laymen 
felt  the  need  of  some  superhuman  assistance  and  so  made 
the  Tirthankaras  into  gods.  And  so  all  over  India  they  are 
worshiped  as  such,  in  temples  and  by  means  of  images  which 
do  not  dififer  in  principle  from  those  of  Hinduism  —  the  puja 
bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  the  Hindu  type.  Both  the  in- 
telligent and  the  ignorant  Jainas  unite  in  it;  but  with  very 
different  points  of  view.  For  the  latter  the  Tirthankaras  are 
gods,  who  hear  prayer,  are  pleased  by  offerings  and  praises, 
and  interfere  to  help  their  worshipers  in  response.  The  intel- 
ligent Jaina,  on  the  other  hand,  considers  the  Tirthankaras 
merely  as  ideals  and  as  being  quite  beyond  the  reach  of  all 
prayers  and  praises.  As  one  Jaina  put  it  in  conversation  with 
me,  "the  Tirthankaras  are  careless  of  us,  for  they  are  literally 
free  from  care."  The  intelligent  Jainas  are  very  logical  here, 
and  recognize  that  prayer  in  the  sense  of  petition  to  such  be- 
ings is  quite  useless.  But  these  good  atheists  do  not  therefore 
stop  praying.  They  frankly  admit  that  prayer  and  praise  are 
of  value  only  for  their  psychical,  subjective  effects  upon  us; 
but  these  effects  are  real  and  desirable  so  far  as  they  go.  Some 
of  these  men  bitterly  deplore  the  unintelligent  worship  of  the 
Tirthankaras,  as  being  thoroughly  inconsistent  with  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  Jainism.  "Our  gods  [the  Tirthankaras] 
are  only  human  souls,"  writes  a  correspondent  of  the  "Jaina 
Gazette,"  —  "souls  who  have  attained  a  blissful  condition. 
Ex-hypothesis,  these  gods  cannot  and  should  not  and  will  not 
take  any  part  whatsoever  in  our  daily  lives.  Yet  every  morn- 
ing they  are  tortured  to  come  down  and  sit  in  the  large  silver 
flat  dishes;  and  thousands  of  Jaina  throats  quiver  in  incanta- 
tions and  eyes  half  close  in  delicious  expectation,  praying  the 
Tirthankaras  by  name  and  generally  to  '  give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread,'  to  give  us  children,  beautiful  wives,  faithful  hus- 
bands, golden  ornaments,  victory  in  a  false  lawsuit,  the  pleas- 
ure even  of  seeing  our  neighbor  robbed  or  ruined,  and  many 
more  matters  of  higher  or  lower  order.  We  claim  peace  and 
indifference  for  our  gods.  Why,  then,  this  daily  heresy  and 
torture  like  the  Chairman  of  a  Municipality  receiving  petitions 
271 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

from  traders,  burgesses,  schools,  and  scavengers?  Can  we  not 
leave  our  gods  in  their  well-earned  peace?"  ^ 

The  wTiter  of  this  article  prudently  refrained  from  signing 
his  name,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  article  must  have  been 
considered  rather  heretical  or  at  least  ill-advised  by  the  more 
conservative  Jainas.  For  many  of  the  more  intelligent  believe 
that  with  their  ignorant  theistic  brothers  the  effects  of  real 
prayer  to  the  Tirthankaras  is  on  the  whole  rather  beneficial. 
Hence  the  altruistic  and  intelligent  atheist  encourages  his 
deluded  brother  to  continue  to  pray  to  the  Tirthankaras  and 
to  praise  them,  and  in  fact  goes  so  far  as  to  write  prayers 
and  praises  for  his  use.  He  himself,  meanwhile,  uses  prayer 
and  praise  only  in  the  sense  of  meditation  and  because  he 
finds  them  psychologically  useful  in  their  reflex  effects  upon 
himself.  In  fact  the  more  advanced  Jaina  sadhus  do  not  pray 
at  all,  but  simply  meditate. 

There  are  said  to  be  forty  thousand  Jaina  temples  in  India, 
and  many  of  them  are  among  the  choicest  gems  of  architec- 
ture that  India  has  to  show.  Often  they  are  decorated  with  a 
profusion  of  carving  and  sculpture  which  has  made  them  for 
many  centuries  the  marvel  of  the  traveler.  The  court  surround- 
ing the  temple  proper  is  usually  itself  surrounded  by  many 
niches  containing  statues  of  Tirthankaras,  and  in  the  inner 
shrine  are  one  or  more  similar  statues,  perhaps  larger  than 
those  without,  and  adorned  sometimes  with  great  jewels,  but 
in  other  respects  the  same.  For  all  the  Tirthankaras  look  alike. - 
Not  even  a  Jaina  can  tell  which  is  which,  except  by  the  con- 
ventional symbols  attached  to  them  by  the  artists  for  pur- 
poses of  identification.  They  all  wear  a  narrow  loin-cloth  and 
sit  cross-legged,  with  each  foot  resting  on  the  opposite  knee,  the 
soles  turned  upward,  hands  folded  in  lap,  eyes  gazing  outward 
into  space,  and  with  expression  as  vacant  as  the  artist  can 
make  it.^  This  exact  similarity  and  lack  of  individuality  among 

1  Jaina  Gazette,  March,  1914,  pp.  1 15-16. 

»  Cf.  the  picture  on  the  jacket  of  this  book,  which  is  drawn,  with  slight 
modifications,  from  a  photograph  of  a  group  of  the  twenty-four  Tirthan- 
kara  images,  taken  by  the  author  in  the  great  Jaina  Temple  at  Benares. 

*  I  have  described  here  the  Svetambara  images.  The  Digambara  Tir- 
thankaras differ  slightly,  in  that  they  are  quite  naked,  their  eyes  are  cast 
down,  and  they  wear  no  jewelry  in  their  foreheads. 

272 


THE   JAINAS 

the  Tirthankaras  is  not  for  nothing,  but  symbolizes  very  well 
the  loss  of  individual  peculiarities  and  the  complete  indiffer- 
ence which  pure  consciousness  and  Moksha  naturally  imply. 
They  raise  also  the  unhappy  query  in  the  mind  of  the  Western 
beholder:  If  I  were  to  become  pure  soul,  should  I  look  like  that? 
In  addition  to  the  images  of  the  Tirthankaras  one  not  in- 
frequently comes  upon  other  figures  in  out-of-the-way  parts 
of  Jaina  temples.  In  the  Delwara  temples  on  Mount  Abu  a 
female  figure  is  many  times  repeated  which  a  Jaina  whom  I 
found  there  told  me  represented  a  goddess  named  Chakesweri.^ 
The  Jainas,  he  said,  have  twent>'-four  gods  and  one  goddess, 
and  for  his  own  part  he  certainly  believed  in  them  all  and  wor- 
shiped them.  Other  female  figures  besides  Chakesweri  there 
are  also  in  these  temples,  sporting  with  jocund  males,  none  of 
whom  appear  to  be  very  strenuous  candidates  for  Moksha. 
More  significant  is  the  presence  of  certain  Hindu  gods  in 
Jaina  temples.  In  the  Jaina  temple  at  Bombay  I  found  an 
image  of  Ganesh;  another  image  of  Ganesh  in  the  great  Jaina 
temple  by  the  bank  of  the  Ganges  at  Benares;  and  in  one  of 
the  remote  Achalgar  temples  on  Mount  Abu  an  image  of  Ga- 
nesh, an  image  of  Hanuman,  and  a  lingam.  Mrs.  Stevenson 
reports  other  Hindu  gods  in  other  Jaina  temples.-  Many  of 
the  Jainas  seem  ignorant  of  these  facts  and  flatly  deny  them. 
Others  when  questioned  give  various  explanations,  the  com- 
monest being  that  these  Hindu  gods  are  servants  to  the  Tir- 
thankaras, or  are  put  in  the  temples  in  order  to  do  homage  to 
the  Tirthankaras,  or  to  bestow  their  protection,  etc. ;  for  most 
of  the  less  intelligent  Jainas  believe  in  the  Hindu  gods,  though 
they  do  not  worship  them.  It  is  questionable  how  reliable  the 
explanations  given  really  are;  and  it  seems  more  likely  that 
the  presence  of  these  images  is  a  token  of  a  tendency  in  popular 
Jainism  to  slip  back  into  Hinduism,  as  so  many  of  its  reforming 
predecessors  have  done.  I  think  it  improbable,  however,  that 
this  tendency  will  have  any  great  effect;  for  the  leading  Jainas 

*  He  probably  referred  to  one  of  the  "  Chasanadevis "  or  female  powers 
who  occupy  in  Jainism  a  place  corresponding  to  that  of  the  shaktis  in  Hin- 
duism. They  are,  that  is,  the  powers  of  the  Tirthankaras.  The  Tirthanka- 
ras are  supposed  to  have  powers  but  never  to  use  them. 

'  Ganesh  is  also  present  and  worship>ed  at  Jaina  weddings. 

273 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

are  very  proud  of  the  independence  of  their  religion  and  will 
probably  be  successful  in  heading  off  any  movement  of  relapse. 
One  surprising  fact  about  the  worship  of  the  Jainas  is  that 
they  have  but  very  few  priests  of  their  own,  and  among  the 
Svetambaras  the  official  puja  in  the  temples  is  usually  offered 
by  Hindus  (Brahmins),  who  know  but  very  little  of  the  Jaina 
religious  and  moral  teachings,  do  not  believe  in  the  gods  they 
are  worshiping,  and  perform  the  rites  purely  as  a  professional 
duty.  For  their  domestic  ceremonies  Jainas  of  all  sects  call 
in  Brahmin  priests,  —  i.e.,  Hindus.  The  Digambaras  have 
priests  of  their  own  for  their  temple  service.  These  priests  are 
never  monks,  but  laymen  who  adopt  the  temple  service  as  their 
means  of  livelihood.  Of  course  they  neither  preach  nor  teach; 
they  simply  perform  the  rites  in  the  proper  way.  And  this  is 
not  a  simple  thing.  The  performance  takes  a  long  time  and 
must  be  done  with  precision.  It  begins  with  washing  the  Tir- 
thankara  image,  coloring  it  in  the  proper  spots,  waving  in- 
cense before  it  with  the  repetition  of  verses,  and  the  making 
of  offerings.  In  some  respects  this  latter  is  the  most  significant 
part  of  the  rite,  and  I  was  fortunate  in  seeing  it  particularly 
well  done  in  the  Syadvad  Mahavidyalaya  at  Benares.  This  is  a 
Digambara  rest-house,  school,  and  temple  —  a  massive  build- 
ing near  the  Asi  Ghat  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.  As  one  enters 
the  building  from  the  river  side  he  comes  first  upon  a  shrine 
with  two  or  three  small  Tirthankara  images.  To  his  right  Is  a 
long  room  or  hall  with  many  beds  —  the  rest-house  for  wan- 
dering monks.  The  temple  proper  is  on  the  second  floor  —  a 
large  and  handsome  room  with  a  shrine  containing  two  or 
three  Tirthankara  images  at  the  end.  As  we  entered  four 
priests  were  doing  puja  before  the  shrine  and  had  reached  that 
part  of  the  ritual  in  which  offerings  are  made.  In  front  of  the 
shrine  was  a  table  on  which  a  large  brass  platter  was  lying. 
The  four  priests  were  standing  by  the  table,  two  on  each  side, 
with  a  serving-table  near  them  on  which  were  eight  small 
trays  each  containing  a  different  kind  of  offering.  The  priests 
would  take  up  first  a  little  white  rice  from  one  of  these  trays 
and  sprinkle  it  upon  the  large  platter  before  the  shrine,  then 
some  saffron  rice  from  another,  then  ghi  from  a  third  and  pour 
it  upon  the  platter,  while  one  of  them  kept  up  an  unbroken 
274 


THE  JAINAS 

chant  of  Sanskrit  verses  to  which  the  three  others  occasionally 
responded  —  with  no  attempt,  however,  to  sing  on  the  same 
key  as  their  leader. 

How  hard  it  is  to  see  truly  and  report  justly  on  the  rite  of  an 
unfamiliar  religion!  To  me  this  whole  performance  at  first 
seemed  almost  childish  —  and  doubtless  my  description  makes 
it  sound  so  to  the  reader.  Yet  my  Jaina  acquaintance  who  had 
brought  me  there,  —  a  barrister  who  holds  the  degrees  of 
M.A.  and  LL.B.,  and  a  most  intelligent,  cultivated,  and  mod- 
ern kind  of  man,  —  standing  by  my  side,  was  noticeably 
affected  by  the  worship,  so  much  so  that  after  a  few  moments 
he  stepped  up  to  the  table  and  joined  the  priests  in  making 
offerings  and  intoning  Sanskrit.^ 

For,  as  another  of  my  Jaina  acquaintances  explained  to  me 
later,  the  rite  has  a  meaning.  The  eight  kinds  of  offerings  sym- 
bolize the  eight  qualities  which  the  Jaina  desires.  Thus,  white 
rice  represents  knowledge;  saffron  rice  (which  the  Digambaras 
use  in  place  of  flowers,  since  flowers  have  souls)  symbolizes 
beauty;  another  of  the  offerings  stands  for  immortality,  etc. 
Moreover,  in  all  this  puja  (so  I  was  assured  by  more  than  one) 
there  was  no  thought  of  giving  gifts  to  the  Tirthankara,  as 
though  he  had  need  of  anything  or  would  be  gratified  by  them ; 
the  purpose  of  the  Jaina  is  to  enforce  upon  himself  and  upon 
those  who  partake  in  and  witness  the  puja,  the  desirability  of 
the  various  qualities  symbolized,  and  the  glory  of  the  ideal 
represented  by  the  Tirthankaras.  The  whole  aim  for  the  intel- 
ligent Jaina  is  subjective. 

But,  however  the  intelligent  Jaina  may  view  the  matter, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  for  the  rank  and  file  puja  is  puja, 
and  the  Tirthankaras  are  worshiped  in  the  same  sense  in  which 
Shiva  and  Vishnu  are  worshiped  in  the  Hindu  temple  next 
door.  And  it  is  the  rank  and  file  who  keep  up  the  puja  in  the 

*  Failure  to  understand  another's  symbols  may  take  place  even  between 
close  friends  of  the  same  nationality  and  of  different  branches  of  the  same 
religion.  John  Bright,  the  Quaker,  seems  to  have  found  it  difficult  to  under- 
stand the  religious  emotions  of  his  friend  William  E.  Gladstone,  the  High 
Churchman.  Thus  in  his  journal,  under  the  date  of  September,  1873,  is  the 
following  entry:  "Hawarden.  To  Church.  Sen,'ice  high.  Three  parsons. 
Mr.  Gladstone  most  earnest  in  the  singing,  etc.  To  me  much  of  the  ser\-ice 
seemed  only  fitted  for  very  ignorant  people."  (Quoted  in  Trevelyan's  Life 
of  John  Bright  [London,  Constable,  1913],  p.  415.) 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

forty  thousand  Jaina  temples.  In  most  of  these  there  are  two 
services  every  day  —  so  I  was  informed,  —  puja  and  scripture 
reading  or  chanting  in  the  morning,  and  illumination  with 
scripture  reading  or  chanting  in  the  evening.  Of  course  Jainas 
(like  Christians)  stay  at  home  from  church  occasionally;  and 
the  men  seem  to  stay  at  home  rather  often.  "Our  temples," 
says  the  "Jaina  Gazette,"  "are  sadly,  we  almost  said  shame- 
fully, neglected."  Yet  in  the  large  centers  one  will  find  a  fair 
attendance  of  women  at  the  morning  temple  service  and  a  few 
men  —  kneeling  before  the  shrine,  waving  incense  sticks,  scat- 
tering grains  of  rice  in  the  center  of  the  room,  and  chanting 
some  ancient  h>Tnn,  with  a  good  deal  of  fervor. 

One  of  the  most  sacred  of  these  hymns  (the  "Shanti  Path") 
I  shall  in  part  copy  down  here,  in  the  English  translation  made 
by  the  gentleman  whom  I  referred  to  above  as  taking  so  en- 
thusiastic a  part  in  the  puja  just  described.  It  is  in  honor 
especially  of  Shanti  Jinendra,  the  sixteenth  Tirthankara,  and 
is  offered  every  day  in  every  Jaina  temple.  It  will  serve  as  a 
good  example  of  Jaina  worship :  — 

"I  bow  to  the  highest  Jaina, 
Whose  eyes  resemble  the  lotus, 
Whose  body  a  thousand  and  eight 
Distinctions  do  adorn. 
I  bow  to  Shanti  Jinendra, 
Whose  face  has  the  moon's  effulgence, 
Purity,  goodness,  character, 
And  law  in  whom  find  shelter. 


"To  Lord  Jinendra,  Shri  Shanta, 
The  worshiped  of  all  the  world. 
The  giver  of  peace  and  joy, 
I  bow  down  my  humble  head. 
Peace  eternal  may  he  award 
To  all  the  beings  on  earth. 
May  I  obtain  by  his  favor 
The  highest  gift  of  Nirvana. 

"Worshiped  by  Indras  and  the  gods, 
Be-jeweled  with  ear-rings,  necklace  and  crown. 
May  the  Tirthankaras  bestow 
Peace  eternal  all  round. 
Born  of  noble  families 
They  gave  light  unto  the  world, 
Their  lotus-feet  are  adorned 
By  legions  of  gods  celestial. 

276 


THE  JAINAS 

"On  worshipers  and  believers 

.   Bestow  peace,  O  Glorious  Jinendra! 

Blessed  be  all  subjects 

And  the  ruler  just  and  strong. 

May  rains  be  good  and  timely 

And  all  diseases  cease! 

"  May  famine,  theft,  and  pestilence 
Not  vex  the  people  for  a  second, 
May  Chakra  divine  of  Jinettdra 
Give  joy  to  the  world  around! 
Lords  Jinas  commencing  from  Rishabha,* 
Destroyers  of  deadly  Karmas, 
Radiators  of  Perfect  Knowledge, 
To  earth  may  Happiness  bring!"  * 

Not  ar  very  inspiring  hymn  from  our  point  of  view,  it  must 
be  admitted,  even  granting  that  it  may  have  lost  something 
in  being  done  into  English.  Yet  we  non-Jainas  are  hardly  in  a 
position  to  judge  it  fairly,  nor  to  form  any  just  estimate  of 
what  it  may  mean  to  a  devoted  follower  of  Lord  Shanti  Jinen- 
dra. Possibly  a  Jaina  would  be  equally  at  a  loss  to  understand 
the  appeal  of  the  great  Christian  h>'Tnn :  — 

"  Crown  Him  with  many  crowns, 
The  Lamb  upon  His  throne." 

In  addition  to  the  temples,  each  Jaina  house  is  supposed  to 
have  a  domestic  shrine  of  its  own,  as  the  Hindus  and  Buddhists 
have,  and  here  puja  is  regularly  offered  to  the  Tirthankaras. 
The  Jaina  layman  is  supposed  to  perform  six  daily  duties, 
namely:  (i)  Puja.  This  is  best  done  at  a  temple,  but  some 
carry  h>Tnn-books  in  which  are  pictures  of  the  Tirthankaras, 
and  these  pictures  may,  for  purposes  of  puja,  be  substituted 
for  the  temple  images.  The  full  puja  for  a  la>Tnan  requires 
forty-eight  minutes,  but  most  arc'satisfied  with  waving  incense 
or  a  lamp  before  the  image  and  offering  rice.  (2)  Confession 
to  one's  guru.  (3)  Reading  from  the  scriptures  or  repeating 
passages  from  them  which  have  been  learned  by  heart.  (4) 
The  "practice  of  vows"  —  some  light  asceticism  as  described 
above  under  the  twelve  rules  of  conduct.  (5)  Charity  (espe- 
cially to  monks).  (6)  Meditation.  Besides  this  daily  exercise 
of  the  religion  there  are  days  of  special  observance  —  e.g.,  the 

*  The  first  Jina  or  Tirthankara. 

*  Published  in  the  Jaina  Gazette  for  November,  1913. 

277 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

eighth  and  fifteenth  day  of  each  month,  the  full  moon,  and 
especially  the  annual  festival  (an  alternating  feast  and  fast) 
of  Pajjusana  at  the  end  of  the  year,  which  lasts  for  eight  days, 
the  fifth  of  which  is  celebrated  as  the  birthday  of  Mahavira. 
"The  closing  day  of  the  Jaina  year  and  of  Pajjusana  is  the 
most  solemn  fast  of  all.  Every  Jaina  fasts  throughout  the  day 
from  food  and  water,  and  the  apasara  [rest-houses  of  the  monks] 
are  crowded  with  men  and  women  making  their  confessions. 
No  outsider  can  visit  these  gatherings  without  being  deeply 
impressed  with  the  determination  of  all  present  to  carry  no 
grudge  and  no  quarrel  over  into  the  next  year.  At  the  close 
of  the  meeting  every  one  present  asks  forgiveness  from  his 
neighbors  for  any  offense  he  may  even  unwittingly  have  given, 
and  they  all  write  letters  to  distant  friends  asking  their  for- 
giveness also."  ^ 

The  Jaina  religion,  it  will  be  seen,  makes  very  considerable 
demands  even  upon  its  laymen,  and  its  general  influence  upon 
them  tends,  unquestionably,  to  a  very  real  kindness  and  good- 
will and  a  certain  sort  of  idealism.  Not  many  of  its  laymen,  how- 
ever, carry  out  its  rules  with  any  great  care;  and  the  rank  and 
file,  even  in  obeying  its  commands,  do  so  very  unintelligently. 
So  at  least  I  was  told  by  one  of  the  Jaina  leaders.  I  have  said 
above  that  the  scriptures  are  read  or  chanted  in  the  temples 
and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  layman  to  read  or  chant  them 
every  day.  But  I  must  now  add  that  very  few  laymen  possess 
any  of  the  scriptures  of  their  own  to  read;  and  when  they  do 
read  or  hear  them  they  are  (to  most  of.  them)  entirely  unintel- 
ligible; for  the  Jaina  scriptures  are  written  in  Sanskrit  and 
Prakrit,  both  of  which  are  unknown  tongues  to  the  great  major- 
ity of  the  Jaina  community.'^   Some  of  the  most  important  of 

1  Mrs.  Stevenson,  TTie  Heart  of  Jainism,  pp.  259-60. 

'  The  hymn  copied  out  above,  for  instance  (the  "Shanti  Path"),  though 
recited  every  day  in  every  Jaina  temple,  is  quite  meaningless  to  almost  all 
those  who  recite  it.  In  fact  it  was  for  this  reason  that  the  English  transla- 
tion was  made  and  printed  in  the  Jairia  Gazette;  the  translator  prefacing  it 
with  the  remark:  "The  Text  is  in  Sanskrit  and  the  real  and  true  import  of 
the  solemn  verses  is  not  generally  understood.  An  English  translation  is 
therefore  given  for  the  information  of  our  young  men."  I  should  add,  how- 
ever, that  according  to  Mrs.  Stevenson,  who  is  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  Jainas  of  Kathiawar,  "most  Jaina  laymen  are  familiar  with  "  a  few  of  the 
more  important  scriptures. 

278 


THE  JAINAS 

their  sutras  have  indeed  been  translated  into  English  by  Pro- 
fessor Jacobi  in  the  "Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  but  of  course 
this  is  entirely  unknown  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Jainas. 
Very  recently  some  of  their  sacred  writings  have  been 
translated  by  native  scholars  into  the  vernacular  and  also  into 
English,  but  not  many  of  the  lower  classes  make  use  of  these 
translations.  The  adult  Jaina  once  in  a  long  while  may  hear 
a  sermon  from  a  traveling  monk,  or  get  a  little  advice  from 
a  professional  guru  or  teacher,  but  beyond  that  his  religious 
instruction  is  nil. 

Up  to  a  few  years  ago  there  was  no  attempt  at  systematic 
religious  education  for  the  Jaina  children,  and  in  fact  for  the 
great  mass  of  the  Jaina  community  there  is  but  little  to-day. 
Each  family  is  supposed  to  have  its  guru  who  gives  occasional 
instruction  as  to  moral  and  religious  duties,  but  this  instruc- 
tion does  not  go  very  deep  nor  is  it  systematic.  Recently  a  few 
local  schools  have  been  started  with  a  few  very  antiquated 
textbooks;  but  there  is  still  nothing  corresponding  to  our  Sun- 
day School  or  to  our  weekly  sermon  —  nothing,  in  short,  to 
reach  the  great  mass  of  the  Jaina  community,  whether  young 
or  old.  The  religious  education  of  the  Jaina  boy  and  girl  con- 
sists (i)  in  what  he  gets  from  his  guru  and  picks  up  inciden- 
tally at  home  and  in  the  temple  when  taken  to  worship,  and 
(2)  in  certain  prayers  which  he  has  to  commit  to  memory  and 
say  over  morning  and  night.  These  are  intended  to  purge  him 
from  the  sins  of  the  preceding  night  and  day,  and  if  under- 
stood and  appreciated  they  would  (so  my  Jaina  informant  as- 
sured me)  prove  helpful  in  the  moral  life.  But  they  are  in 
Prakrit  and  are  learned  and  recited  in  Prakrit  and  often  with 
no  inkling  as  to  their  meaning.  The  father  does  not  tell  his 
son  their  meaning  because  he  does  not  know  it  himself.  But 
both  father  and  son  repeat  the  meaningless  syllables  regularly, 
twice  every  day. 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  no  one  recognizes  these  sad 
failings  more  openly,  and  no  one  deplores  them  more  deeply 
or  cries  out  on  them  more  insistently,  than  some  of  the  Jaina 
leaders  themselves.  My  account  of  the  Jainas'  use  of  meaning- 
less prayers  and  their  ignorance  of  their  own  scriptures  and 
religion  was  taken  almost  word  for  word  from  a  Jaina  acquaint- 
279 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ance.  And  the  following  quotations  from  the  "  Jaina  Gazette" 
will  give  further  illustration  of  the  frankness  of  the  leaders  on 
this  matter  and  their  earnest  desire  to  bring  about  reform :  — 

"  If  Jainism  has  yet  to  live  it  must  come  up  to  date.  Old  dog- 
mas alone  won't  do.  The  garbled  and  unauthenticated  ac- 
counts of  old  Jaina  glory  are  not  much.  Keen-witted  History 
and  scrupulous  Logic  have  to  certify  to  our  fitness  before  we 
can  get  admission  to  the  halls  where  truth  is  sifted  and  weighed 
and  the  claims  of  different  creeds  adjudged.  Jainism  has  got 
the  true  gold  in  it;  but  it  lies  upon  us  to  prove  that  it  is  so.  .  .  . 
General  Booth's  Salvation  Army  is  coming  to  India  to  take 
the  criminal  tribes  in  hand  to  reform  them.  Is  it  not  fair  to 
ask  the  Jainas:  What  have  you  done  to  make  life  better  and 
happier  for  your  fellow  human  beings?"  ^ 

"Some  of  the  Jainas  may  be  good,  perhaps  despite  their 
birth  in  a  Jaina  family,  but  Jainas  on  the  whole  have  success- 
fully made  ceaseless  efforts  to  divest  themselves  of  all  that  was 
best  in  Jainism.  Knowledge  of  Jainism  is  almost  extinct.  Very 
few  original  texts  are  extant ;  they  are  unknown  to  Jaina  masses, 
even  to  their  learned  leaders,  and  very  rarely  read  even  in  pri- 
vate, what  to  say  of  public  meetings.  The  spiritual  or  rather 
anti-spiritual  food  of  the  masses  is  derived  partly  from  crude, 
half-Jaina,  half-non-Jaina  truths  or  half-truths,  and  partly 
from  superstitions  upon  which  their  lives  are  based  in  our 
towns  and  villages."  ^ 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  Jaina  leaders  find  cause  for  discourage- 
ment and  sadness,  not  only  in  the  spiritual  condition  of  their 
fellow-religionists,  but  also  because  of  what  the  "Jaina  Ga- 
zette" calls  "the  steady  swindling  down"  of  their  numbers. 
That  the  Jaina  religion  is  destined  to  decline  steadily  through- 
out our  present  era,  and  at  last  become  (temporarily)  extinct, 
is,  strangely  enough,  one  of  the  beliefs  of  this  rather  strange 
people.  And  now  that  facts  seem  to  be  verifying  their  faith 
they  naturally  look  forward  with  considerable  anxiety  to  the 
future.  The  "Jaina  Gazette"  reports  that  between  1891  and 
1901  the  number  of  Jainas  fell  from  about  1,500,000  to  1,334- 
000,  and  that  according  to  the  census  of  191 1  it  had  fallen  by 
that  year  to  1,248,000.  This  means  a  decrease  for  the  last 
^  January,  1911,  p.  3.  *  May-September,  1911,  p.  74. 

280 


THE   JAINAS 

decade  of  6|  per  cent.  In  the  same  decade  the  Hindus  increased 
5  per  cent,  the  Moslems  6.7  per  cent,  and  the  Christians  33 
per  cent.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  loss  in  numbers?  The  Jaina 
death-rate  is  shown  to  be  lower  than  that  of  Hindus,  Mos- 
lems, or  Christians.  Nor,  if  we  can  trust  the  writer  in  the 
"Gazette,"  who  seems  to  be  well  informed  on  his  subject, 
can  conversions  away  from  Jainism  account  for  this  steady  fall 
in  numbers.  It  does  not  occur  to  him  that  a  religion  which 
values  celibate  life  so  much  above  the  married,  which  urges 
men  and  women  to  turn  monks  and  nuns  and  regards  the  pro- 
duction of  lawful  children  rather  askance,  has  no  right  to  be 
grieved  but  should  rather  rejoice  at  a  steady  decrease  in  num- 
bers. But  indeed  there  is  certainly  some  other  cause  than  this 
at  work.  This  cause,  in  part,  is  the  caste  system.  The  caste 
system  works  against  the  Jainas  in  two  ways.  Jainas  and 
Vaisya  Hindus  intermarry.  But  as  a  rule  the  Vaisya  man, 
though  he  takes  a  Jaina  wife,  is  not  willing  to  give  his  daughter 
to  a  Jaina  husband.  The  result  is  that  many  Jaina  women  be- 
come Hindus  and  their  children  are  bom  as  Hindus,  while 
many  Jaina  men  are  left  with  no  wives  at  all.  And  the  division 
of  the  Jainas  into  small  castes  who  will  not  intermarry'  often 
works  the  same  evil.  But  the  evil  condition  is  greatly  increased 
by  the  maintenance  of  the  traditional  feeling  against  the  re- 
marriage of  child-widows,^  which  makes  153,000  Jaina  women 
unmarriageable,  and  by  the  custom  of  child-marriage  and 
other  evil  conditions  which  induce  premature  death,  and  thus 
considerably  reduce  the  female  population.  As  a  result  about 
t%venty-eight  per  cent  of  the  Jaina  men  under  forty-five  have 
to  remain  unmarried  because  there  are  not  any  Jaina  women 
for  them  to  marry. 

This  clinging  to  ancient  evil  customs,  and  especially  this 
division  of  their  small  community  into  castes  and  sects,  are 

•  In  one  little  Jaina  caste  which  the  writer  in  the  Gazette  has  investi- 
gated, there  are  408  males  and  381  females:  117  of  these  381  are  widows. 
"This  means  that  117  plus  27,  that  is,  144  males,  cannot  have  wives  under 
any  conceivable  circumstances.  ...  On  the  day  when  these  figures  were 
taken  there  were  177  boys  who  were  unmarried,  while  there  were  73  girls 
only  who  could  be  distributed  among  them.  That  means  that  104  boys  must 
go  without  wives!  And  40  grown-up  men  must  have  been  old  bachelors  — 
either  ascetics  —  or  —  or  what?"  (A.  B.  Latthe,  "The  Decadence  of 
Jainas,"  Jaina  Gazette,  April  and  June,  19 12,  pp.  39-43.) 

281 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

among  the  things  most  deplored  by  the  intelligent  laymen. 
The  Digambaras  and  Svetambaras  will  not  intermarry,  and 
only  a  few  of  them  are  sufficiently  advanced  to  be  willing  to 
eat  together.  Only  recently  they  were  beginning  a  law  suit 
which  promised  rich  pickings  for  the  lawyers,  because  the 
Svetambaras  refused  to  allow  those  of  the  Digambara  persua- 
sion to  worship  at  one  of  the  shrines  sacred  to  all  Jainas.  And 
not  only  are  there  three  great  sects  in  this  little  community  of 
a  million  and  a  quarter;  these  sects  are  divided  (as  I  said  on  a 
previous  page)  into  nearly  ninety  sub-sects,^  each  of  which 
regards  all  the  rest  as  more  or  less  heretical. 

And  what  is  perhaps  worst  of  all,  because  it  goes  deepest, 
is  the  fact  that  in  nearly  all  these  sects  the  emphasis  is  put  en 
the  outer  form,  and  the  development  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
community  is  left  to  take  care  of  itself.  The  Jainas  are  a  rich 
community  and  many  of  their  rich  men  are  generous  and 
loyal.  But  until  recently  their  generosity  has  usually  taken 
the  form  of  buying  a  new  jewel  to  be  put  in  the  forehead  of  a 
Tirthankara  image, ^  while  expenditures  for  charity  and  edu- 
cation have  scarcely  been  thought  of.  A  sad  state  of  things, 
indeed,  yet  one  hardly  peculiar  to  Jainism.  Only  last  year  in 
Christian  Spain,  in  the  city  of  Granada,  the  priests  collected 
some  forty-two  thousand  dollars  from  the  pious  laity  to  buy 
a  new  crown  for  the  Madonna;  although  the  city  is  too  poor 
to  afford  pure  water,  has  no  poorhouse,  and  but  few  schools, 
and  although  the  Madonna  already  had  one  very  expensive 
crown  which  might  perhaps  have  been  made  to  "do"  for  a 
few  years  longer. 

Fortunately  there  is  a  good  deal  of  feeling  against  this  sort 
of  waste  in  both  Spain  and  India.  But  in  Spain  the  feeling  is 
confined  chiefly  to  those  out  of  the  Church ;  while  among  the 

1  The  Jaina  Gazette  for  October,  1914,  gives  a  list  of  eighty-seven  castes 
into  which  the  450,000  Digambaras  are  divided. 

'  A  wealthy  Svetambara  gentleman  is  at  present  building  a  new  temple 
in  which  he  is  expending  twenty-four  lakhs  of  rupees  ($8,000,000).  Of 
another  Svetambara  the  Gazette  for  June,  1915,  records  that  "in  1905  he 
spent  Rs.  25,000  in  entertaining  the  persons  collected  at  a  religious  ser- 
vice held  by  him.  In  1907,  at  a  cost  of  Rs.  12,000,  he  built  a  garden  house 
for  the  public,  where  a  religious  fair  annually  takes  place.  In  making  pil- 
grimage in  company  he  spent  Rs.  37,000.  He  set  apart  a  sum  of  Rs.  20,000 
toward  grounding  scholarships  to  students  prosecuting  their  College  study." 

282 


THE   JAINAS 

Jainas  it  is  the  leaders  who  cry  out  most  earnestly  against  it. 
One  of  them  writes  thus :  — 

"One  result  of  narrow  sectarianism  is  to  be  found  in  the 
pious  endowments,  lavish  expenditures  over  the  erection  of 
temples  and  in  processions,  and  enormous  waste  of  money  in 
marriages.  Not  a  moment's  thought  is  bestowed  on  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Jaina  community-;  not  an  effort  is  made  to  relieve 
the  sorrows  of  the  unfortunate  Purdanashin  widows  [those 
kept  in  confinement],  who  within  the  four  walls  of  their  houses 
endure  untold  miseries  and  to  whom  an  unmerciful  fate  has 
allotted  nothing  but '  fierce  midnights  and  famishing  morrows ' ; 
and  no  provision  or  scheme  is  devised  for  the  orphans,  who  for 
sheer  want  of  care  and  protection  drift  into  a  life  of  sin  and 
crime.  .  ,  .  WTiat  an  amount  of  real  solid  charitable  work  is 
here  for  him  who  is  ready  to  do  the  work!  But  such  silent, 
beneficent  work  brings  forward  no  glittering  reward,  no  daz- 
zling compensation,  and  hence  it  is  never  cared  for,  it  is  never 
seriously  taken  up.  The  Jaina  community  has,  hopelessly  and 
in  outer-seeing  beyond  redemption,  fallen  into  lethargy  and 
inactivity.  Brethren!  Time  has  come  when  we  should  no 
longer  listlessly  stand  with  folded  arms  resigned  to  fate  and 
destiny,  but  when  we  must  gird  up  loins  courageously  for  a 
series  of  steadfast  and  laborious  marches.  Time  has  come  when 
we  should  either  prepare  ourselves  for  the  hard,  severe,  in- 
creasing struggle  for  existence  as  a  community,  as  a  force  and 
power  in  India,  or  suffer  ourselves  to  drop  out  forever  from 
the  list  of  living  forces  and  active  communities  of  this  great 
Peninsula."  * 

These  are  stirring  words;  and  a  community  which  can  pro- 
duce young  men  so  alive  to  the  evils  of  the  times  as  are  the 
writers  whom  I  have  quoted  (and  there  are  many  others  like 
them)  is  far  from  moribund.  It  must  be  remembered  also  that 
the  articles  in  question  were  written  not  for  Europeans;  ^  and 

>  Devendra  Prasad  in  the  Jaina  Gazette  for  October-December,  191 1, 
PP-  31-32. 

»  I  have  had  many  a  talk  with  the  wTiter  of  the  article  just  quoted  from  and 
have  questioned  him  closely  as  to  the  possible  evil  conditions  or  tendencies 
within  the  Jaina  community.  But  all  in  vain.  Scarcely  a  single  undesir- 
able feature  would  he  admit;  his  fellow-religionists  were  apparently  perfect. 
So  complete  was  his  loyalty  to  them  while  talking  to  a  stranger  that  I  came 

283 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

for  me  to  quote  from  them  at  all  is,  I  confess,  almost  unfair.  It 
is  like  disclosing  the  secrets  of  a  friend's  family  which  one  has  by 
chance  learned.  I  am  sure,  however,  that  the  reader  will  agree 
with  me  in  feeling  that  the  very  frankness  of  these  writers  is 
itself  a  token  of  the  moral  strength  that  still  remains  in  this 
ancient  community.  And  the  words  have  the  men  behind 
them.  I  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  know  personally  a  num- 
ber of  these  young  reformers,  and  there  can  be  no  question  of 
their  earnestness  and  of  their  devotion  to  the  rehabilitation 
of  their  religion  and  of  their  community.  In  fact  they  have 
succeeded  in  getting  the  reform  movement  well  under  way; 
and  I  must  say  a  word  or  two  concerning  it  before  I  close  this 
chapter. 

One  of  the  organizations  through  which  the  reformers  have 
done  their  work  is  the  "Bharat  Jaina  Mahamandal,"  which 
is  sometimes  translated  the  "All  India  Jaina  Association," 
sometimes  the  "Jaina  Young  Men's  Association  of  India." 
It  was  founded  in  1895  and  its  aim  is  to  bring  the  different 
sects  into  union  or  at  least  cooperation,  to  arouse  the  whole 
community  to  the  importance  of  education,  and  to  bring  about 
certain  social  reforms  such  as  the  ultimate  abolition  of  caste 
restrictions  and  the  alleviation  of  the  sad  lot  of  the  child- 
widows.  The  "Jaina  Gazette,"  founded  in  1905,  is  its  official 
organ.  A  somewhat  similar  organization  is  the  "Mahavira 
Brotherhood,"^  founded  in  1913,  with  headquarters  in  both 

to  doubt  his  information.  Yet  when  he  comes  to  address  the  Jainas  them- 
selves he  writes  what  I  have  quoted  above,  and  much  more  of  the  same 
strenuous  sort.  One  is  uncertain  whether  to  admire  most  this  frank  and 
unsparing  criticism  toward  friends,  or  the  equally  downright  loyalty  of 
reticence  when  speaking  to  strangers. 

1  Its  "Minimum  of  Conduct"  for  its  members  is  interesting  —  and  in 
many  ways  admirable:  — 

"  (i)  Hurt  nothing  as  far  as  possible;  eschew  all  flesh  food. 

"(2)  Help  and  serve  all  (Jainas  and  non- Jainas)  as  much  as  possible. 

Expect  no  return. 
"  (3)  Suppress  the  passions  of 

Anger  —  practice  Forgiveness. 
Pride  —  practice  Humility. 
Deceit  —  practice  Love  and  Faith. 
Greed  —  practice  Sacrifice. 
"  (4)  Cultivate  Peace  of  Mind." 

The  high  aims  of  the  Brotherhood  are  more  promising  than  its  member- 
ship, which  as  yet  numbers  but  eight. 
284 


THE   JAINAS 

England  and  India.  It  aims  "to  be  a  nucleus  of  Universal 
Brotherhood  of  all  living  beings,"  as  well  as  "to  be  a  center  of 
Jainism  in  the  West."  Partly  through  the  efforts  of  these 
societies  and  their  members,  partly  through  other  wide-awake 
Jainas,  the  cause  of  religious  and  moral  education  in  the  Jaina 
community'  has  made  a  fair  start.  A  number  of  schools  have 
been  founded,  —  both  local  establishments  and  boarding- 
schools,  —  in  some  of  which  (notably  in  the  two  great  schools 
in  Benares)  English  and  Sanskrit  are  taught,  while  in  all  of 
them  the  study  of  the  Jaina  religion  is  compulsory'.^  A  series 
of  books  of  religious  instruction  prepared  especially  for  chil- 
dren was  published  in  1907. 

Another  effort  that  the  reformers  are  making  is  an  attempt 
to  publish  and  translate  as  much  as  possible  of  their  sacred 
literature.  Until  quite  recently  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
Jaina  literature  was  known  even  to  the  Jaina  public.  In  1884 
Dr.  Jacobi  translated  some  Jaina  sutras,  but  these  compose 
but  a  small  part  of  the  Jaina  literature.  Most  of  it,  still  pre- 
served only  in  palm-leaf  manuscript,  was  hidden  away  in  mon- 
asteries, especially  in  South  India,  and  guarded  by  monks  who, 
too  ignorant  to  read  it  themselves,  have  regarded  it  as  too 
sacred  for  any  one  else  to  read.  In  some  cases  it  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  that  they  were  prevailed  upon  to  allow 
copies  of  these  manuscripts  to  be  made,  even  though  the  copies 
were  to  be  kept  within  their  own  monasteries.  Another  ob- 
stacle in  the  way  of  publication  was  the  prejudice  felt  through- 
out the  Svetambara  sect  against  allowing  women  or  any  of  the 
laity  to  read  the  sacred  books.  In  spite  of  these  obstacles  con- 
siderable progress  has  been  made.  A  "Jaina  Literature  So- 
ciety'," with  a  European  and  an  Indian  section,  has  recently 
been  founded  with  a  steadily  increasing  endowment  fund,  and 
ancient  manuscripts  are  being  edited  and  translated.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  the  society  to  publish  the  text  together  with  an 
English  translation  of  all  the  Jaina  Sacred  Books. 

In  January,  1912,  the  "Jaina  Gazette,"  in  summing  up  the 
results  of  the  reform  movement,  was  able  to  point  to  the  fol- 
lowing institutions:  about  fifteen  journals   (in  various  lan- 

»  I  should  add  that  the  two  Benares  schools  which  I  visited  seemed  to 
be  admirably  conducted. 

285 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

guages);  three  presses;  eleven  libraries  (in  addition  to  libraries 
attached  to  temples  all  over  India);  seventeen  schools;  an 
orphanage;  and  a  Home  for  Widows.  To  this  list,  moreover, 
should  be  added  a  hospital,^  now  six  years  old,  and  two  recent 
gifts  of  money,  one  of  two  hundred  thousand  rupees  for  the 
cause  of  education  made  in  October,  19 13,  and  another  of  four 
hundred  thousand  rupees  made  in  December  of  the  same  year. 
A  few  months  ago  a  Jaina  lady  made  a  gift  of  tw-enty-five 
thousand  rupees  for  female  education. 

The  movement  for  union  is  also  flourishing.  For  several 
years  each  of  the  three  chief  sects  has  had  an  association  of  its 
own,  with  an  annual  conference,  combining  thus  its  many 
sub-sects,  and  in  191 1  the  All  India  Jaina  Association  made  a 
proposal  to  all  three  associations  that  a  united  committee  be 
appointed  made  up  of  representatives  from  each.  This  pro- 
posal was  accepted  by  all  the  associations ;  so  a  first  step  was 
taken  for  complete  union.  Moreover,  Svetambaras  and  Digam- 
baras  have  at  last  been  induced  to  eat  together,  though  they 
will  not  yet  intermarry.  And  in  December,  1913,  an  All  India 
Jaina  Convention  was  held  at  Benares,  at  which  representa- 
tives of  all  the  sects  talked  in  Hindi  and  English  for  four  days 
on  the  superiority  of  the  Jaina  religion  to  all  others  and  on  the 
need  for  education  and  union.  The  convention  was  opened  by 
a  procession  through  the  city  in  which  (as  the  enthusiastic 
Jaina  reporter  put  it)  "the  chariot  car  drawn  by  a  couple  of 
decorated  elephants,  proceeding  slowly  and  majestically,  the 
prancing  ponies  proud  of  their  glittering  jewelry  and  velvet 
trappings,  the  melodious  music,  the  long  line  of  flags,  and  the 
Guard  of  Honor  formed  by  the  students  of  the  Syadvad,  all 
combined  to  lend  a  glorious  splendor  to  the  scene."  Each  of  the 
four  daily  (and  nightly)  sessions  had  its  own  president,  Mrs. 
Besant  and  Professor  Jacobi  being  among  the  number.  Some 
of  the  speeches  were  scholarly  expositions  of  doctrine,  some 
were  appeals  for  united  action,  and  not  a  few  were  of  the  sort 
made  by  an  enthusiastic  convert  from  Hinduism  who  said  (so 
at  least  I  was  told,  for  it  was  in  Hindi  and  quite  beyond  me) 
that  just  as  there  should  be  but  one  language  in  the  world  and 

'  At  Cawnpore.  During  nine  months  of  the  year  1913  it  treated  18,833 
cases.  See  Jaina  Gazette  for  June-July,  1914,  p.  232. 

286 


THE  JAINAS 

that  the  Sanskrit,  so  there  should  be  but  one  religion,  and  that 
the  Jaina,  since  it  really  comprehends  all  the  rest.  And  as  a 
fact,  so  high  has  enthusiasm  reached,  a  movement  is  now  on 
foot  to  build  a  temple  and  rest-house  in  the  United  States,  and 
to  send  over  missionaries  to  lead  the  Americans  to  Moksha.^ 
At  the  close  of  the  conference  gifts  were  announced,  to  the 
amount  of  two  hundred  and  twent>'-eight  thousand  rupees, 
for  educational  and  charitable  purposes. 

The  Jaina  reformers  are  still,  of  course,  but  a  tiny  minority 
of  the  community.  Their  movement  has  gone  but  a  little  way, 
and  it  is  by  no  means  sure  of  any  large  success.  They  probably 
will  succeed  in  getting  their  sacred  literature  published,  but 
it  does  not  follow  that  any  but  themselves  will  read  it.  To  be 
sure,  some  measure  of  success  is  here  possible,  for  tw^enty-five 
per  cent  of  the  Jainas  can  read  and  write  —  a  larger  per- 
centage of  literacy  than  the  adherents  of  any  other  religion  in 
India,  except  the  Parsees,  can  boast.  Yet  I  am  not  sanguine  of 
any  very  excellent  results  even  should  all  the  Jainas  read  their 
scriptures  in  their  own  tongue.  For  these  scriptures  were 
written  hundreds  or  thousands  of  years  ago,  and,  if  one  may 
judge  from  the  samples  done  into  English,  but  few  of  them 
have  any  great  message  for  our  times.  They  are  not  to  be 
compared  in  value  to  the  Upanishads  or  to  the  Koran  or  the 
Dhammapada.  Much  of  the  Jaina  religion  as  contained  in 
the  books  is  quite  devoid  of  inspiration;  and  much  of  it  con- 
sists of  logic-chopping,  elaborate  systematizations,  and  minute 
rules  for  the  self-torture  of  rather  useless  monks;  much  of  it  is 
given  up  to  the  exposition  of  a  psychology  and  cosmology  that 
date  from  the  times  of  Mahavira  and  to  a  naive  philosophy 
which  no  one,  not  even  a  Jaina,  would  think  of  accepting  but 
for  his  belief  that  it  has  the  authority  of  some  mythical  Tir- 
thankara.  It  is  vain  to  try  to  draw  much  living  water  from 
these  sources. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  Jainism  is  taken  in  a  liberal  way, 

1  Some  of  the  Jainas  are  ver>'  much  in  earnest  with  this  idea  of  foreign 
missions.  They  have  already  six  converts  in  England ;  and  the  Jaina 
Gazette  says:  "India,  Asia,  Europe,  and  America  are  all  yearning  for  one 
universal,  all-binding  Brotherhood.  We  believe  Jainism  can  satisfy  this 
craving." 

287 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

without  leaning  too  heavily  on  sutras,  angas,  and  agamas; 
when  a  few  of  its  most  fundamental  ideas  are  stripped  of  their 
rather  grotesque  fittings  and  allowed  to  develop  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  perfectly  free  thought,  it  makes  a  very  respectable 
system,  and  ranks  well  among  the  religions  of  India.  Its  ex- 
treme and  almost  fantastic  altruism,  its  great  emphasis  upon 
self-mastery,  upon  the  dominance  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh, 
its  unshaken  faith  in  the  soul,  and  in  the  necessity  of  keeping 
one's  self  free  from  the  cheap  enticements  of  an  increasingly 
materialistic  age,  together  with  some  of  its  psychological  sug- 
gestions as  to  mental  and  moral  training  —  these  things  are 
of  permanent  value;  and  a  religion  that  has  persistently  stood 
for  them  for  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  years  is  worthy  of 
very  considerable  respect. 

Nor  are  these  things  merely  matters  of  theory  among  the 
Jainas.  Professor  Buhler  writes:  "In  practical  life  Jainism 
makes  its  laity  earnest  men  who  exhibit  stronger  traits  of  resig- 
nation than  other  Indians  and  excel  in  an  exceptional  willing- 
ness to  sacrifice  anything  for  their  religion."  ^  For  my  own 
part  I  went  to  India  prejudiced  against  them  from  having 
trusted  Hopkins's  ^  characterization  too  implicitly.  I  met  a 
number  of  Jainas  and  found  them  exceptionally  intelligent 
men,  broad-minded,  and  earnestly  devoted  to  the  welfare  of 
their  fellows,  as  well  as  remarkably  hospitable  and  generous. 
These  gentlemen  testify  that  they  are  happier  and  better  men 
because  of  their  religion ;  happier  men  because  the  great  aim  of 
their  religion  is  perfect  peace  and  because  its  rules  enable  one 
to  approach  the  goal ;  better  men  both  because  the  moral  com- 
mands of  Jainism  if  conscientiously  followed  guard  one  against 
any  very  serious  sinning  and  demand  real  altruism  toward  all 
sentient  beings,  and  also  because  it  holds  up  as  ideals  certain 
Blessed  Beings  who  are  conceived  of  as  having  once  been  men 
like  ourselves  and  as  having  actually  achieved  through  moral 
means  the  peace  which  all  are  taught  to  love. 

The  high  valuation  that  the  Jainas  set  upon  this  inner  peace 

*  The  Indian  Sect  of  the  Jainas  (London,  Frowde,  1903),  p.  18. 

*  See  his  Religions  of  India  (Boston,  Ginn  &  Co.  1898),  chap.  xii.  He 
characterizes  Jainism  as  "  a  religion  in  which  the  chief  points  insisted  on 
are  that  one  should  deny  God,  worship  man,  and  nourish  vermin"  (p.  297). 

288 


THE   JAINAS 

which  the  world  cannot  give  nor  take  away,  together  with  the 
kind  of  ideal  which  they  find  and  love  in  the  life  of  their  Lord 
Mahavira  is  made  very  plain  in  the  descriptions  given  in  their 
ancient  books  of  the  persecutions  of  the  founder:  "When  he 
approached  a  village  the  inhabitants  met  him  on  the  outside 
and  attacked  him,  saying:  'Get  away  from  here.'  He  was 
struck  with  a  stick,  the  fist,  a  lance,  hit  with  a  fruit,  a  clod,  a 
potsherd.  Beating  him  again  and  again  many  cried.  When  he 
once  sat  without  moving  his  body  they  cut  his  flesh,  tore  his 
hair  under  pains,  or  covered  him  with  dust.  Throwing  him  up 
they  let  him  fall  or  disturbed  him  in  his  religious  postures; 
abandoning  the  care  of  his  body,  the  Venerable  One  humbled 
himself  and  bore  pain,  free  from  desire.  As  a  hero  at  the  head 
of  the  battle  is  surrounded  on  all  sides,  so  was  there  Mahavira. 
Bearing  all  hardships,  the  Venerable  One,  undisturbed,  pro- 
ceeded on  the  road  to  Nirvana."  ^ 

In  spite  of  its  setting,  so  strange  to  our  times  and  our  land, 
there  is  something  rather  noble  in  this  patient  figure,  some- 
thing that  suggests,  at  least  remotely,  Him  "  who,  when  he 
was  reviled,  reviled  not  again,  persecuted,  he  threatened  not." 
And  there  is  something  noble  in  a  religion  which  can  choose  for 
its  ideal  this  Winner  of  the  Inward  Peace,  this  Despiser  of  the 
Flesh,  and  looking  past  the  body  to  the  soul  can  call  this 
bloody,  dust-stained,  insulted  figure  "the  Great  Hero,"  "the 
Conqueror."  "As  an  elephant  at  the  head  of  the  battle,  so  was 
Mahavira  there  victorious." 

I  have  dwelt  with  some  detail  in  this  chapter  upon  the  meta- 
physics, the  rites,  the  customs,  and  the  shortcomings  of  Jain- 
ism.  But  it  is  only  fair  to  add  that  to  the  broad-minded  Jainas 
the  moral  element  of  their  religion  is  the  truly  important  ele- 
ment, and  that  they  are  ready  to  a  surprising  extent  to  see  the 
letter  perish  provided  the  spirit  lives.  Thus  they  hail  as  true 
extensions  of  Jainism  every  movement  toward  the  prevention 
of  cruelty  to  animals,  toward  vegetarianism  and  anti-vivisec- 
tion; every  reform  of  dress  that  tends  to  prevent  the  wanton 
or  cruel  destruction  of  bird  or  animal  life;  and  every  effort 
toward  temperance  or  the  prohibition  of  intoxicants.  The  Uni- 
versal Peace  Movement  is  acclaimed  as  belonging  to  the  ver>' 
»  Akaranka  Sutra,  i,  8,  3. 
289 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

spirit  of  Mahavira,  and  Andrew  Carnegie  is  regarded  as  a  Jaina 
in  disguise.  "None  can  doubt,"  says  the  "Jaina  Gazette"  in 
reference  to  these  movements,  "  that  Jainism  is  extending,  al- 
though the  Jainas  may  not  know  it,  and  although  those  in 
whose  midst  the  spirit  of  Jainism  is  incarnated,  and  is  growing, 
may  not  know  that  they  are  Jainas." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  MOHAMMEDANS 

IT  is  usually  with  a  sense  of  relief  that  one  turns  from  a  Jaina 
temple,  with  its  twenty-four  jewel-bedecked  Tirthankara 
images,  or,  still  more,  from  a  Hindu  shrine  with  its  lingam  and 
its  Ganesh  and  Hanuman,  its  incense-laden  air  and  its  din  of 
drum  and  cymbal,  and  enters  the  stillness  of  a  Mohammedan 
mosque.  No  priests  here,  plying  their  trade  and  collecting  their 
fees,  no  images,  no  incense,  nothing  to  stand  between  the  wor- 
shiper and  the  invisible  God.  Here,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  the 
architecture  itself  typifies  the  religion  which  it  enshrines.  The 
plan  of  a  mosque  is  severely  simple.  No  inner  and  mysterious 
room,  no  idol  shrine,  no  subordinate  deities  circling  the  central 
god,  —  just  a  court  with  a  fountain  for  washing  the  hands, 
head,  and  feet,  and  an  empty  hall  with  a  few  prayer  mats  on 
which  the  faithful  may  stand  or  kneel  and  pray,  a  niche  in  the 
wall  to  give  them  their  bearings,  and  a  small  platform  from 
which  one  of  their  number  may  read  to  the  rest  from  the  sacred 
book, 

Moslem  theology  is  as  simple  as  its  architecture  and  its  wor- 
ship. No  pantheon  of  gods  with  their  wives,  no  semi-divine 
Tirthankaras,  no  avataras,  no  incarnations,  no  abstruse  philos- 
ophy which  only  the  wise  and  learned  can  comprehend  —  just 
the  One  God  who  made  all  things  and  does  whatever  is  done, 
omnipotent,  omniscient,  merciful,  and  righteous;  a  heaven  for 
the  good  and  a  hell  for  the  evil,  and  a  perfectly  authoritative 
book,  as  simple  as  it  is  infallible,  revealed  by  God  to  the  Pro-, 
phet  —  this  is  the  sum  of  Islam. 

Beautifully  simple  surely  —  that  is  one's  first  reaction  on 
this  creed.  And  one's  second  thought  is  the  quer\%  Is  this  creed 
not,  perhaps,  rather  too  simple  for  the  very  complex  world  we 
live  in?  I  asked  a  Brahmin  once  what  he  thought  of  Islam,  and 
he  answered,  "It  is  indeed  very  simple,  and  that  is  just  the 
trouble  with  it.  It  is  the  kind  of  religion  you  would  expect  a 
291 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

very  simple  Arab  of  the  seventh^ century  to  teach  his  fellow- 
inhabitants  of  the  desert.  It  answered  their  questions,  but  can 
it  answer  ours?" 

The  Moslem  thinks  it  can.  The  answer  to  every  real  and  to 
every  possible  question,  he  will  tell  you,  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
will  of  the  one  and  absolutely  supreme  God.  Says  the  Koran: 
"He  is  God  beside  whom  there  is  none  who  should  be  served, 
the  Knower  of  the  unseen  and  the  seen.  He  is  the  Merciful,  the 
Compassionate.  He  is  God  beside  whom  there  is  no  God,  the 
King,  the  Holy,  the  Author  of  Peace,  the  Granter  of  security, 
Guardian  over  all,  the  Mighty,  the  Restorer  of  every  loss,  the 
Possessor  of  every  greatness.  High  is  God  above  what  they  set 
up  with  Him.  He  is  God,  the  Maker  of  all  things,  the  Creator 
of  all  existence,  the  Fashioner  of  all  images.  His  are  the  most 
excellent  and  beautiful  attributes  that  man  can  imagine. 
Everything  that  exists  in  the  heavens  or  on  the  earth  sings  His 
glory  and  His  perfection,  and  He  is  the  Mighty,  the  Wise." 
"The  East  and  West  are  God's.  Whithersoever  men  turn 
themselves,  the  face  of  God  doth  meet  them  there." ^ 

By  this  monistic  doctrine  Islam  seeks  at  once  to  render  to 
God  the  highest  glory  and  to  answer  all  human  questions.  And 
this  view  of  things  seems  to  have  satisfied  the  Prophet  and 
his  primitive  Arabs  very  completely.  But  when  through  their 
efforts  the  new  religion  had  been  carried  to  peoples  more  familiar 
with  the  problems  of  philosophical  thought,  unforeseen  diffi- 
culties arose:  and  greatest  of  all,  the  old  problem  of  God's 
eternal  decree  and  man's  freedom  and  responsibility.  I  shall 
not  here  retail  the  long  controversy  of  the  Mutazilites  and  the 
Sunnites,  but  shall  simply  quote  from  the  Creed  of  the  great 
Sunnite  theologian,  Al  Ashari,  which  finally  settled  the  matter 
and  made  belief  in  man's  freedom  as  heretical  for  Islam  as  St, 
Augustine  had  made  it  for  Christianity:  — 

"  Nothing  exists  upon  earth,  be  it  good  or  bad,  but  that  which 
God  wills:  but  all  things  are  by  God's  will.  None  is  able  to  do 
anything  before  God  does  it,  neither  is  any  one  independent  of 
God.  .  .  .  The  works  of  creatures  are  created  and  predestined 
by  God.  .  .  .  And  God  maintains  the  believers  in  obedience  to 

1  In  most  of  my  quotations  from  the  Koran  I  have  made  use  of  Sale's 
Translation. 

292 


THE  MOHAMMEDANS 

Him;  but  the  unbelievers  He  leads  astray,  guides  them  not 
aright,  vouchsafes  them  not  faith.  .  .  .  For  should  he  be  gra- 
cious unto  them  and  help  them  aright,  then  would  they  be  pious. 
.  .  .  God  is  able  to  help  the  unbelieving  aright  and  to  be  gra- 
cious unto  them  so  that  they  shall  become  believing,  but  He 
wills  that  they  shall  be  unbelieving.  He  has  made  them  imper- 
vious to  all  help  and  sealed  their  hearts."  ^ 

If  one  were  to  confine  one's  self  to  the  books  one  would  sup- 
pose that  this  ended  the  matter  and  that  all  the  Moslems  have 
ever  since  been  good  fatalists.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  are 
nothing  of  the  sort.  What  view  the  Moslems  of  Turkey  and 
Persia  take  of  this  subject  I  cannot  say;  but  I  have  talked  with 
many  Indian  Moslems,  —  both  learned  theologians  and  ordi- 
nary tradesmen,  —  and  they  all  insist  stoutly  that  they  be- 
lieve in  free  will.  They  are  quite  unconscious  of  the  fact  that 
in  holding  this  they  are  out  of  accord  with  Al  Ashari  —  in  fact 
the  great  majority  of  them  have  never  heard  of  Al  Ashari;  and 
it  never  occurs  to  them  that  their  belief  in  human  freedom  is 
inconsistent  with  the  view  that  God  wills  whatsoever  comes  to 
pass.   The  following  conversation,  for  instance,  is  t>-pical:  — 

Question.  "Does  ever>-thing  happen  in  accordance  with 
God's  will,  so  that  nothing  is  done  an>'where  in  the  universe 
which  He  does  not  decree?" 

Answer.  "Yes,  ever>'thing  that  happens  and  ever>'thing 
that  is  done  by  man  or  by  any  one  else  is  in  accord  with  God's 
will." 

Q.  "WTien  a  man  sins,  then,  it  is  God  that  makes  him  sin?" 

A.  "Oh,  no,  not  at  all.    God  never  wills  sin." 

Q.  "  How  do  you  reconcile  this  with  your  former  statement?" 

A.  "You  see,  man's  power  to  sin,  as  man's  power  for  all  his 
actions,  comes  from  God.  But  man's  choice  of  sin  is  his  own 
and  is  against  the  will  of  God.   God  is  displeased  at  sin." 

Q.  "Then  man's  will  is  free?" 

A.  "Oh,  yes." 

Q.  "Then  some  things  do  happen  that  are  not  in  accordance 
with  God's  will?" 

A.  "Yes." 

'  Quoted  by  Macdonald,  Development  of  Muslim  Theology,  Jurispru- 
dence, and  Constitutional  Theory  (New  York,  Scribners,  1903),   pp.  294-95. 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

None  of  the  Indian  Moslems  with  whom  I  talked  could  be 
called  fatalists  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word.  And  yet  in  one 
particular  they  were  fatalists.  Though  God  has  by  no  means 
decreed  whatever  comes  to  pass,  God  has,  they  insist,  decreed 
the  time  and  the  manner  of  every  man's  death.  To  my  ques- 
tion how,  if  this  were  the  case,  a  suicide  could  ever  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  his  act,  they  had  no  reply,  but  clung  to  their  view 
in  proper  Moslem  fashion  none  the  less.  With  the  exception  of 
this  particular  case,  however,  as  I  have  said,  many  Indian 
Moslems  have  drifted  away  from  the  orthodox  fatalism  of  their 
mediaeval  creed.  And  this  fact  seemed  very  interesting  to  me. 
It  pointed  out  a  way  in  which  the  fetters  of  creed  that  have  so 
long  bound  the  Moslem  world  may  be  broken,  and  are  being 
broken  —  namely,  not  by  revolt  but  by  simple  ignorance.  It 
is  not  in  the  Mohammedan  to  rebel  against  any  generally  ac- 
cepted authority.  But  once  an  authority  becomes  generally 
accepted,  it  is  likely  to  be  generally  forgotten;  and  the  popular 
religion  may,  without  knowing  it,  drift  beyond  it  and  adapt 
itself  spontaneously  to  changing  human  needs.  And  if  at  the 
same  time  the  thinkers  of  the  community  have  fairly  liberal 
tendencies  and  do  not  seek  to  force  religious  thought  back  into 
century-old  forms,  we  may  look  with  some  hope  for  intel- 
ligent creeds  and  an  elastic  and  growing  religion. 

Another  illustration  of  this  development  of  religious  ideas  in 
Islam  will  be  seen  if  we  compare  Al  Ashari's  creed  with  the 
popular  Indian  Moslem  view  on  the  question  of  the  nature  of 
God.  Al  Ashari  writes :  "We  believe  that  God  has  settled  Him- 
self upon  His  throne ;  that  God  has  a  countenance  and  two  hands 
and  two  eyes.  .  .  .  We  believe  that  at  the  Day  of  Resurrection 
God  will  be  visible  to  the  eyes,  as  the  moon  is  seen  upon  the 
night  of  the  full  moon."  ^ 

I  quoted  Al  Ashari  to  my  various  Moslem  acquaintances  and, 
to  a  man,  they  all  insisted  that  they  believed  in  no  such  thing. 
God,  they  all  said,  has  no  hands 'or  eyes  or  body:  these  expres- 
sions must  be  taken  figuratively.  God  is  spirit  and  spirit  only. 
He  is  the  Creator  of  matter,  but  does  not  Himself  occupy  space 
—  though  He  is  in  one  sense  present  everywhere.  They  were 
very  clear,  moreover,  that  God's  omnipresence  must  not  be 
*  Macdonald,  op.  ciU,  pp.  294-95. 
294 


THE    MOHAMMEDANS 

taken  in  the  sense  of  immanence  in  matter.  God  to  them,  in 
proper  Moslem  style,  is  transcendent  only,  and  they  were  quite 
aware  of  the  difference  between  their  view  and  that  of  their 
Hindu  neighbors. 

This  extreme  transcendentalism  and  deism  of  Islam  makes 
it  rather  inhospitable  to  mysticism.  The  Moslem  God  is  very 
distant  and  as  a  rule  He  has  nothing  to  say  to  individuals.  He 
had  a  message  for  the  race  as  a  whole  and  that  He  wrote  down 
and  sent  in  the  form  of  various  books  to  the  various  Prophets. 
But  since  He  sent  the  Koran  there  has  been  no  need  for  any 
further  communication  between  Him  and  us.  In  spite  of  its 
aversion  to  the  immanent  view  of  God,  however,  Islam  very 
early  in  its  history  began  producing  mystics;  and  although  it 
is  certainly  much  less  favorable  to  mysticism  than  either 
Hinduism  or  Christianity,  one  comes  upon  a  touch  of  it  here 
and  there  among  many  of  its  followers.  The  Sufis  and  Der- 
vishes are,  of  course,  the  most  prominent  representatives  of 
Mohammedan  mysticism,  and  these  flourish  best,  perhaps,  in 
the  Persian  empire.  But  in  India,  too,  mysticism  is  to  be 
found,  and  in  individuals  quite  outside  the  influence  of  the 
Dervish.  Thus  an  old  moulvie  whom  I  happened  upon  — 
lying  quite  helpless  on  his  bed  from  a  paralytic  stroke  —  said 
to  me  that  God  was  very  near  him,  and  that  sometimes  God 
spoke  to  him  in  ways  that  were  unmistakable;  —  that  God 
said  things  to  him  and  these  things  came  true.  "We  have  five 
senses,"  he  said,  "and  through  each  of  these  knowledge  of  some 
sort  comes  into  the  soul.  The  soul  is  like  a  reservoir  with  five 
pipes  leading  into  it.  But  the  reservoir  has  also  a  spring.  The 
water  from  all  these  six  sources  gets  mingled  in  the  reservoir  so 
that  you  cannot  at  first  tell  from  which  source  any  given  part 
of  the  water  came.  But  there  is  a  way  of  finding  out.  Shut  off 
the  pipes,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  the  water  coming  in  after 
that  is  from  the  spring.  So  of  the  soul.  If  you  shut  off  the  five 
senses  and  all  sources  of  evil  thoughts  you  may  know  that  what 
is  left  comes  into  the  soul  from  God."  Certainly  this  is  a  kind 
of  mysticism.  Yet  the  contrast  between  it  and  Hindu  mysti- 
cism is  very  striking.  God  is  still  regarded  as  an  outside  being 
who  pours  knowledge  into  the  soul  as  through  a  spring;  and 
you  know  it  is  from  God  partly  because  it  is  not  from  the 
295 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

senses,  partly  because  it  "comes  true."  Most  Mohammedan 
mysticism  is  of  a  decidedly  external  nature  —  and  the  Hindus 
would  add  of  a  decidedly  crude  nature  as  well.  And  this  brings 
us  to  the  question  of  revelation. 

There  is  an  odd  combination  of  liberality  and  narrowness  in 
the  Moslem  view  of  revelation.  God,  they  tell  us,  has  revealed 
Himself  at  various  times  and  to  all  peoples  —  "He  hath  sent 
men  to  every  nation  to  teach  them  the  right  way."  Hence  in 
the  sacred  books  of  all  religions  some  truth  is  to  be  found;  and 
an  especially  large  share  of  it  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Jews  and 
Christians.  It  is  this  aspect  of  the  Moslem  doctrine  of  revela- 
tion that  is  emphasized  by  such  writers  as  Ameer  Ali,  Moham- 
med AH,  and  Lord  Headly  in  their  attempt  to  exhibit  Islam 
as  the  one  universal  and  all-inclusive  religion.  And  it  is  this 
emphasis  on  only  one  aspect  of  the  question  which  makes  the 
writings  of  these  modem  apologists  of  Islam  so  misleading.  For 
while  Islam  teaches  that  God  has  indeed  revealed  Himself  to 
all  peoples,  it  also  insists  that  these  various  revelations  to  non- 
Mohammedans  have  in  every  case  become  so  distorted  and 
vitiated  as  to  be  quite  untrustworthy  and  practically  worthless, 
and  that  they  have  all  been  superseded  by  the  Koran.  The 
Koran,  on  the  other  hand,  has  no  human  or  fallible  element  in 
it.  It  was  written  not  by  Mohammed,  but  by  God,  and  given 
to  the  Prophet  through  the  dictation  of  the  Angel  Gabriel. 
Hence  it  is  absolutely  and  infallibly  inspired  not  only  as  to  its 
ideas,  but  in  all  its  words.  God  did  not  inspire  the  Prophet  to 
write  the  Koran;  God  wrote  the  Koran  and  wrote  it  in  Arabic, 
and  the  very  Arabic  words,  being  the  words  of  God,  have  a 
virtue  and  a  value  of  their  own. 

This  exceedingly  childish  and  mechanical  view  of  inspira- 
tion has  had  —  and  must  continue  to  have  —  its  deadening 
effect  upon  all  real  advance  of  thought  in  Moslem  communities. 
Moslems  will,  of  course,  deny  this,  but  it  is  inevitable.  A  Sufi, 
whom  I  questioned  as  to  the  relation  of  Islam  to  scientific  prog- 
ress, insisted  that  Islam  was  in  no  way  opposed  to  science  — 
so  long  as  science  conformed  to  the  Koran  and  the  Traditions  of 
the  Prophet.  Such  necessary  conformity,  of  course,  means  the 
death  of  free  thought.  Neither  philosophy  nor  science  nor  in- 
telligent literary  criticism  nor  human  and  satisfying  theology 
296 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

can  have  any  healthy  growth  when  clapped  forever  within  the 
plaster  cast  of  such  a  dogma.  The  history  of  Moslem  thought  is 
one  long  illustration  of  this.  There  is,  indeed,  some  slight  lati- 
tude permitted  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Traditions  and  of 
the  Koran.  Thus,  as  several  Moslems  told  me,  the  description 
of  Creation  in  seven  days  need  not  be  taken  literally,  as  a  day 
might  be  to  God  as  a  thousand  years.  Moreover,  on  certain 
questions  there  are  contradictory  statements  within  the  Koran 
itself,  so  that  he  who  naturally  favors  a  liberal  view  may  some- 
times be  able  to  quote  the  Koran  as  his  authority.  As  a  prac- 
tical matter  there  is  thus  some  opportunity  for  developing 
thought  within  Islam  —  as  in  fact  we  have  seen  when  dealing 
with  human  freedom  and  the  nature  of  God.  But  as  a  matter 
of  principle  there  is  no  justification  for  the  growth  of  thought 
developing  beyond  the  words  of  the  Koran.  Apparently  neither 
Mohammed  nor  any  orthodox  Moslem  theologian  ^  has  ever 
had  any  real  conception  of  the  possibility  of  a  developing  theol- 
ogy in  response  to  growing  human  needs.  And  in  fact  it  is 
questionable  whether  any  of  the  founders  of  religions  except 
Jesus  fully  understood  the  great  advantages  of  enunciating 
principles  only  and  leaving  the  applications  and  the  verbal 
formulations  of  them  to  the  varying  needs  of  subsequent  ages. 
But,  as  I  have  said,  some  practical  advance  in  Moslem  theol- 
ogy there  has  been  —  in  spite  of  its  doctrine  of  revelation 
rather  than  because  of  it.  This  is  noticeable  not  only  in  its 
view  of  God  and  of  human  freedom,  but  in  its  doctrine  of  the 
future  life.  The  beliefs  of  intelligent  Moslems  to-day  concern- 
ing heaven  and  hell  are,  indeed,  in  no  way  inconsistent  with  the 
Koran ;  yet  the  steady  tendency  has  been  and  is  to  emphasize 
the  moral  and  spiritual  aspect  of  the  Koranic  teachings  and 
either  to  interpret  the  materialistic  passages  symbolically  or 
to  pass  them  over  in  silence.  There  is  no  doubt  that  both  these 
aspects  exist  in  the  Koran,  and  the  whole  development,  if  such 
a  word  should  be  used,  is  purely  a  matter  of  relative  emphasis. 
But  when  one  compares  the  materialistic  pictures  of  heaven  that 
have  had  such  influence  in  the  Islam  of  the  past  with  the  views 
held  by  great  numbers  of  Mohammedans  to-day,  the  change  in 

1  Of  course  there  are  liberal  theologians  who  hold  no  such  slavish  posi- 
tion toward  the  Koran,  but  these  men  are  heretical  and  extremely  rare. 

297 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

emphasis  certainly  approximates  real  development  in  thought. 
Several  informants  of  mine  —  ordinary  Moslem  merchants  — 
insisted  that  the  descriptions  of  heaven  in  the  Koran  must  not 
be  taken  to  mean  that  it  is  a  place  of  sensuous  delight.  They 
admitted  that  many  of  the  lower  Moslems  so  regard  it,  and  that 
Mohammed  wrote  as  he  did  for  the  Arabs  who  were  around 
him.  But  they  affirmed  with  emphasis  that  the  real  meaning  of 
these  materialistic  passages  is  simply  that  each  good  man  shall 
have  in  heaven  what  he  most  desires;  and  when  we  get  there 
we  shall  probably  not  want  sensuous  delights  even  if  here  we 
think  that  we  shall.  No  one  knows,  said  they,  what  the  joys  of 
heaven  are  to  be:  but  they  will  be  spiritual  —  "peace  from 
Allah"  and  the  presence  of  God. 

This  emphasis  upon  the  spiritual  passages  of  the  Koran  and 
this  symbolic  interpretation  of  the  materialistic  passages  is 
carried  still  further  by  the  intellectual  leaders  of  liberal  Islam. 
The  following,  for  instance,  I  take  from  a  little  book  by  Mo- 
hammed Ali,  editor  of  the  "Review  of  Religions":  — 

"The  gulf  that  is  generally  interposed  between  this  life  and 
the  life  after  death  is  the  great  obstacle  in  the  solution  of  the 
mystery  of  the  hereafter.  Islam  makes  that  gulf  disappear  al- 
together: it  makes  the  next  life  as  only  a  continuation  of  the 
present  life.  .  .  .  The  great  facts  which  shall  be  brought  to 
light  on  the  day  of  the  resurrection  shall  not  be  anything  new 
but  only  a  manifestation  of  what  is  hidden  from  the  physical 
eye  here.  .  .  .  The  Holy  Quran  makes  it  clear  that  the  state 
after  death  is  a  complete  representation,  a  full  and  clear  image, 
of  our  spiritual  state  in  this  life.  .  .  .  The  pleasures  and  pains 
of  the  next  life,  therefore,  though  spiritual  in  reality  will  not 
be  hidden  from  the  ordinary  eye  as  spiritual  facts  are  in  this 
life."  1 

Islam  also  holds  that  hell  is  not  eternal,  and  from  this  the 
more  liberal  Moslems  conclude  that  there  will  be  infinite  prog- 
ress in  the  next  life  for  both  bad  and  good.  "Those  who  have 
wasted  their  opportunities  in  this  life,"  writes  Mohammed  Ali, 
"shall,  under  the  inevitable  law  that  makes  every  man  taste 
of  what  he  has  done,  be  subjected  to  a  course  of  treatment  of 
the  spiritual  diseases  which  they  have  brought  about  with  their 

1  Islam  (Quadion,  the  Sadr  Anjuman-I-Ahmadiyya,  1912),  pp.  27-30. 
298 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

own  hands,  and  when  the  effect  of  the  poison  which  vitiated 
their  systems  has  been  nulHfied  and  they  are  fit  to  start  on  the 
onward  journey  to  the  great  goal,  they  shall  no  more  be  in  hell. 
This  is  the  reason  that  the  punishment  of  hell  according  to  the 
Holy  Quran  is  not  everlasting.  It  is  meant  to  clean  a  man  of 
the  dross  which  is  a  hindrance  in  his  spiritual  progress,  and  when 
that  object  has  been  affected  its  need  vanishes.  Nor  is  para- 
dise a  place  to  enjoy  the  blessings  only  of  one's  previous  good 
deeds,  but  it  is  a  starting-point  of  the  development  of  the  facul- 
ties of  man.  Those  in  paradise  are  not  idle,  but  are  continually 
exerting  themselves  to  reach  the  higher  stages.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  they  are  taught  to  pray  even  there  to  their  Lord : 
'O  our  Lord!  make  perfect  for  us  our  light.'"  ^ 

The  odd  combination  of  breadth  and  narrowness  which  we 
saw  in  the  Moslem  view  of  revelation  is  reflected  again  in  the 
attitude  of  Mohammedans  toward  non-Moslems.  Islam  is 
regarded  as  the  fulfillment  and  completion  of  all  other  religions 
—  it  is  the  crown  of  Christianity,  just  as  Christianity  is  the 
crown  of  Judaism.  Theoretically  all  religions  have  some  meas- 
ure of  truth.  Yet  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  doctrine  of  the  dis- 
tortion of  all  revelations  except  that  of  Mohammed  in  effect 
nearly  nullifies  most  of  the  really  fine  and  liberal  expressions 
which  one  finds  in  the  Koran  and  in  the  writings  of  modem 
Moslems.  There  is  practically  no  hope  for  any  beside  Moslems, 
Christians,  and  Jews,  for  only  these  worship  the  One  True  God, 
and  only  these  (if  we  may  trust  the  more  explicit  statements  of 
the  Koran)  have  had  a  genuine  written  revelation.  They  are 
"  the  people  of  the  book";  and  though  "God  hath  sent  men  to 
ever>^  nation  to  teach  them  the  right  way,"  this  book  revela- 
tion seems  to  be  particularly  important  for  salvation.  Jews  and 
Christians  may  be  saved  if  they  are  true  to  their  respective 
revelations.  But  as  a  fact  ver>'  few  are.  For  we  are  assured  the 
present  Old  and  New  Testaments  have  been  badly  tampered 
with,  and  to  get  at  the  truth  which  they  originally  contained 
one  must  have  recourse  to  the  Koran ;  and  most  Christians  and 
Jews  are  strangely  obstinate  in  refusing  to  do  this.  The  Old 
Testament,  moreover,  commands  the  Jews  to  recognize  Jesus 
as  a  Prophet  of  God,  and  if  a  Jew  does  not  do  this  he  will  go 

^  Islam  (Quadion,  the  Sadr  Aniuman-I-Ahmadiy>-a,  1912),  pp.  37-38- 
299 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

to  hell.  In  like  manner  the  real  New  Testament  (so  I  was  as- 
sured by  learned  and  ignorant  Moslems  alike  —  and  they  have 
the  Koran  for  their  authority)  —  the  real  New  Testament,  be- 
fore its  text  was  tampered  with  and  vitiated,  taught  that  Jesus 
was  not  God  and  must  not  be  worshiped ;  and  that  he  was  not 
really  crucified,  but  was  taken  bodily  up  into  heaven  and  an 
illusory  body  substituted;  and  it  also  taught  that  Mohammed 
should  come  and  complete  God's  revelation  —  for  the  Para- 
clete means  Mohammed  ( !) .  Hence  no  Christian  who  worships 
Christ  or  believes  in  the  Trinity  can  be  saved.  My  Moslem 
friends  were  kind  enough  to  intimate  that  there  might  be  some 
chance  for  a  Unitarian  Christian  —  though  they  did  not  feel 
at  all  sure  of  this,  inasmuch  as  Unitarians  do  not  usually  be- 
lieve in  Mohammed  and  the  Koran.  Belief  in  particular  doc- 
trines forms  a  large  part  of  the  Moslem  method  of  salvation ; 
and  every  religion  of  which  this  is  true  must  necessarily  exhibit 
a  good  deal  of  intolerance.  Certainly  the  history  of  Islam  has 
shown  this  in  no  small  measure,  and  it  is  questionable  whether 
the  religion  of  the  Prophet  can  ever  throw  it  off  altogether  and 
retain  anything  distinctive. 

In  India,  however,  this  intolerance  is  becoming  steadily  more 
and  more  a  matter  of  theory  only.  The  influence  of  British 
rule  and  the  constant  rubbing-up  against  Hindu,  Christian, 
Jaina,  and  Parsee  neighbors  are  having  their  inevitable  effect. 
One  acquainted  only  with  the  history  of  Islam,  or  with  the  re- 
ligion as  seen  in  Turkey,  would,  I  think,  be  astonished  at  the 
tolerance  and  liberality  of  thought  manifested  by  a  very  large 
proportion  of  Indian  Moslems.  As  an  illustration  of  what  I 
mean,  while  in  Benares  not  only  was  I  invited  to  attend  the 
Friday  service  and  to  kneel  down  side  by  side  with  the  faithful 
during  their  prayers,  but  after  the  service  was  ended  I  was 
asked  to  make  an  address,  there  in  the  mosque.  I  am  not  sure 
in  how  many  Christian  churches  a  professed  Mohammedan 
would  be  asked  to  make  a  public  speech  at  the  end  of  the  Sun- 
day service. 

Of  course  this  would  not  have  been  possible  in  all  the  mosques 

in  India;  and  in  a  few  of  them  one  still  sees  the  sign,  "No 

Hindus,  Christians,  dogs,  or  other  non-Mussulmans  admitted." 

Still,  I  think  there  is  little  question  but  that  the  general  tend- 

300 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

ency  among  Indian  Moslems  is  toward  true  tolerance  and  a 
certain  kind  of  liberality  in  thought  and  action. 

The  active  duties  of  the  Moslem  are  divided  by  the  theolo- 
gians into  those  which  one  owes  to  God  and  those  which  one 
owes  to  man.  It  is  significant  that  prayer  is  regarded  as  be- 
longing to  the  form.er  of  these  two  classes.  It  is  not  so  much 
a  means  of  getting  what  one  wants,  or  of  satisfying  one's  in- 
most longings,  as  a  service  which  one  owes  to  God.  This  view 
of  prayer  explains  both  the  nature  of  Moslem  prayers  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  said.  One  must  make  his  prayers 
five  times  every  day  at  certain  stated  intervals  —  the  first 
being  before  sunrise.  Before  saying  them  one  must  first  wash 
his  head,  hands,  and  feet,  and  while  praying  he  must  kneel  and 
bow  down  in  the  direction  of  Mecca.  The  prayers  he  is  to  say 
are  definitely  specified  —  being  all  made  up  of  verses  from  the 
Koran.  He  may,  of  course,  add  as  many  petitions  of  his  own 
as  he  cares  to;  but  in  each  of  his  five  daily  prayers  he  must 
begin  with  the  following:  — 

"  In  the  name  of  Allah,  the  Merciful  and  the  Compassionate." 
"All  holy  praises  are  due  to  God,  who  out  of  his  mercy  pro- 
vides for  our  welfare  before  we  have  done  aught  to  deserve  it, 
the  Merciful  God  who  rewards  our  deeds  mercifully."  "Sole 
judge  of  the  Day  of  Judgment  who  has  not  given  to  any  one 
else  His  right  to  judge  his  creatures."  "Thou  to  whom  all 
these  praises  are  due.  Thee  alone  do  we  worship  and  of  Thee 
alone  do  we  seek  assistance  in  all  matters."  "Guide  us,  O  Lord, 
into  the  right  path  which  leads  to  Thee,  and  let  it  be  so  that, 
remaining  firm  in  that  path,  we  may  be  guided  to  walk  in  the 
footsteps  of  persons  upon  whom  have  been  thy  blessings  and 
favors.  Save  us,  O  Lord,  from  the  path  of  the  people  upon 
whom  has  been  Thy  wrath  and  of  those  who,  having  fallen 
into  errors,  have  gone  astray  and  not  reached  Thee."  "Be  it 
so,  OGod!" 

The  nature  of  these  prayers  shows  the  purpose  aimed  at 
by  them.  From  the  objective  point  of  view  they  are  praises 
rendered  to  the  Most  High,  and  subjectively  considered  they 
have  value  in  focusing  the  mind  five  times  every  day  on  God 
and  on  the  desirability  of  righteousness.  An  admirable  institu- 
tion this;  but  one  unfortunately  whose  value  has  been  largely 
301 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

vitiated  in  the  usual  Indian  fashion.  The  prayers  must  be  said 
in  Arabic,  and  to  the  great  majority  of  Indian  Mohammedans 
Arabic  is  an  unknown  tongue,  so  that  the  prayers  which  they 
recite  are  merely  songs  without  words.  They  learn  to  make  the 
noises,  but  most  of  them  have  either  never  learned  the  meaning 
of  them  or  have  long  ago  forgotten  it.  Of  course  there  are  very 
many  Moslems  —  even  among  the  uneducated  —  of  whom  this 
is  not  true.  Many  make  a  point  of  finding  out  what  the  prayers 
mean  and  of  following  in  their  minds  the  meaning  of  the  strange 
Arabic  syllables.  Many  also,  at  the  close  of  the  formal  prayers, 
add  petitions  of  their  own  and  pray  to  God  as  genuinely  as  any 
Christian.  I  think  no  one  can  watch  a  Mohammedan  praying 
alone  at  sunset-time,  or  can  attend  the  public  prayers  in  the 
mosque  on  Friday  without  feeling  that  there  is  here  a  great  deal 
of  genuine  devoutness  and  true  worship. 

This,  at  any  rate,  has  been  my  experience.  I  have  attended 
the  "Friday  mosque"  more  than  once  and  have  always  come 
away  considerably  impressed.  The  throng  of  Mussulmans 
worshiping  in  the  great  mosque  at  Delhi  —  rising,  kneeling, 
prostrating  themselves  on  the  pavement,  with  the  uniformity  of 
a  military  drill  and  as  if  all  mastered  by  one  impulse  —  this 
is  a  memorable  sight.  But  perhaps  even  more  impressive  is  the 
worship  in  a  small  mosque  with  only  twenty  or  thirty  present. 
The  leader  is  seated  on  a  flight  of  four  or  five  steps  which  serve 
as  a  pulpit,  facing  the  audience,  who  sit  on  mats,  Indian  fashion, 
in  two  or  three  rows  on  the  floor.  The  service  begins  by  one  of 
the  men  in  the  front  row  (not  the  leader)  chanting  in  slow  and 
musical  cadences  the  Arabic  prayers  which  I  have  copied  out 
above.  Then  the  leader  takes  his  stand  on  the  top  of  his  step- 
ladder  pulpit  and  reads  a  sermon  which  is  usually  not  of  his  own 
writing,  but  is  taken  from  a  book  of  sermons  from  the  pen  of 
some  well-known  preacher.  The  sermon  ended,  he  descends  and 
places  himself  in  front  of  the  audience  and  with  his  back  to- 
ward them,  so  that  he  as  well  as  they  may  face  the  kiblah  or 
niche  which  shows  the  direction  of  Mecca.  The  congregation 
rises  and  the  leader  intones  a  series  of  Arabic  prayers,  with  a 
long  pause  after  each  —  thus  giving  an  opportunity  for  silent 
prayer  and  meditation.  Each  prayer  is  accompanied  by  a 
change  of  attitude,  leader  and  congregation  bowing,  rising, 
302 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

kneeling,  and  prostrating  themselves  as  one  man.  At  the  close 
of  the  service  few,  if  any,  go  at  once;  nearly  all  stay  and  con- 
tinue praying,  —  each  one  silently  and  by  himself.  In  this 
service  in  the  mosque  there  is  a  simplicity  that  must  appeal  to 
every  obser\'er.  It  has  a  directness  that  makes  it  very  much 
more  comprehensible  to  the  stranger  than  is,  for  instance,  the 
Catholic  mass  to  the  average  Protestant. 

Besides  prayer,  the  Moslem's  duties  toward  God  may  be 
summed  up  under  fasts,  feasts,  and  pilgrimages.  Pilgrimages 
are  common  to  many  religions,  and  as  practiced  in  modem 
times  are  usually  an  anachronism  for  which  justification  is 
sought  in  various  ways.  Intelligent  Moslems  defend  the  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca  as  an  opportunity  for  very  great  self-sacri- 
fice. As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  of  course  a  sur\-ival  from  a  primi- 
tive stage  of  thought;  and  as  it  brings  the  pilgrim  into  Arabia 
it  is  the  last  stronghold  of  old-fashioned  Mussulman  intoler- 
ance and  fanaticism. 

The  manner  of  obser\^ance  of  the  great  Mohammedan  fast, 
in  the  month  Ramadhan,  varies  with  the  obser\-er.  For  those 
who  really  wish  to  grow  in  grace  it  is  an  opportunity  for  crucify- 
ing the  flesh  and  refining  the  spirit.  Since  abstaining  from 
food,  however,  is  required  only  during  the  day,  those  who  care 
to  fulfill  only  the  letter  of  the  law  may,  if  they  like,  turn  the 
fast  into  a  feast  during  the  hours  of  night,  or  even  into  a  revel. 
My  Moslem  friends  assured  me  that  this  was  very  uncommon 
in  India,  and  as  Ramadhan  did  not  come  round  during  my 
stay  there  I  have  no  way  of  judging  for  myself.  Certainly  the 
picture  which  they  drew  of  the  terrible  thirst  which  they  vol- 
untarily suffer  all  day  long  and  day  after  day,  when  Ramadhan 
comes  in  the  hot  season,  made  me  feel  that  to  be  a  good  Moslem 
at  such  a  time  required  considerable  firmness  of  will  and  very 
real  devotion  to  one's  religion. 

The  celebration  of  Muharram  is  certainly  not  a  religious  duty 
comparable  to  the  Mecca  pilgrimage  or  the  fast  of  Ramadhan. 
It  has  no  basis,  as  they  have,  in  the  Koran  —  as  indeed  is  ob- 
vious inasmuch  as  the  event  which  it  commemorates  occurred 
many  years  after  Mohammed's  death.  Yet  it  is  a  religious  cus- 
tom of  considerable  importance  for  both  Sunnis  and  Shiahs 
all  over  India  and  should  have  some  mention  here.  The 
303 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

Muharram  festival  commemorates  the  death  of  al-Hasan  and 
al-Husayn,  the  two  sons  of  Ali  and  Fatima  (hence  grandsons  of 
the  Prophet),  who  in  the  opinion  of  the  Shiahs  were  the  right- 
ful inheritors  of  the  Kaliphate,  and  who  many  even  of  the 
Sunnis  admit  were  good  men  and  died  as  martyrs  in  an  attempt 
to  prevent  the  Kaliphate  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  an  am- 
bitious and  wine-drinking  politician.  Hence  in  every  town  in 
India  Sunnis  and  Shiahs  join  in  the  celebration.  Taziahs,  or  im- 
itation tombs  of  pasteboard,  brilliantly  decorated  (represent- 
ing the  tombs  of  the  two  young  martyrs) ,  are  carried  through 
the  streets  in  procession  and  the  less  costly  of  them  destroyed 
amid  pretended  weeping  (the  more  elaborate  being  put  safely 
away  for  next  year) .  The  central  figure  in  the  parade  is  a  white 
horse,  covered  with  a  white  and  red  cloth,  representing  the 
bloody  charger  of  al-Husayn  as  he  returned  riderless  from  the 
battle.  Five  days  are  given  up  to  the  festivities  and  the  last 
one  ends  up  with  a  kind  of  miracle-play,  or  a  series  of  vaude- 
ville performances,  and  the  whole  town,  Hindu  and  Moham- 
medan alike,  turns  out  and  has  a  good  time.  I  should  add  that 
many  of  the  more  religious  Moslems  deplore  the  Muharram 
celebration  and  take  no  part  in  it.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  forms  one  of  the  external  observances  of  the  rank  and  file  and 
is  regarded  by  them  as  having  at  least  something  to  do  with 
religion. 

If  prayer,  fasting,  and  pilgrimage  constitute  the  Moslem's 
duties  toward  God,  his  duty  toward  man  is  summed  up  in  the 
word  charity.  And  in  the  teaching  of  this  duty  the  Moslem 
means  something  very  definite  and  businesslike.  All  Moslems 
but  the  very  poor  are  required  by  their  religion  to  put  aside  a 
certain  percentage  of  their  income  to  be  disbursed  in  charity. 
Theoretically  this  money  should  be  collected  by  the  State  — 
for  theoretically  the  State  is  a  theocracy  with  the  Prophet  or 
the  Kaliph  at  its  head.  But  in  States  which  are  purely  human 
institutions  the  money  is  collected  in  each  community  by  the 
imam  —  an  individual  chosen  by  his  fellows  for  the  perform- 
ance of  certain  duties  relating  to  the  religion.  The  money  thus 
collected  is  devoted  to  helping  the  poor,  assisting  slaves  in  buy- 
ing back  their  freedom,  and  debtors  in  paying  their  debts,  and 
helping  strangers  in  the  land  who  need  assistance. 

304 


A    TAZIAH,   IN   THE  MUHARRUM   PROCESSION,    BENARES 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

One  of  the  most  important  of  one's  duties  toward  one's  fel- 
lows is  the  education  of  the  young  and  particularly  their  train- 
ing in  morals  and  religion.  It  cannot  be  said  that  in  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty  the  Mohammedan  is  very  intelligent  or 
even  very  zealous.^  Most  Moslem  boys  are  sent  to  a  Moslem 
school  to  learn  Arabic  and  the  Koran  before  going  to  the  regu- 
lar school  to  learn  English.  Children  in  India  as  a  rule,  how- 
ever, have  things  pretty  much  their  own  way  and  no  great 
effort  is  made  to  force  them  to  learn.  And  so  it  happens  that 
most  Mohammedan  boys  shirk  their  lessons  (for  boys  will  be 
boys  even  in  India)  and  learn  very  little  Arabic,  and  that 
little  they  soon  forget.  One  enthusiastic  Moslem  told  me  that 
perhaps  a  quarter  of  the  Moslem  men  and  boys  in  Benares 
could  read  Arabic.  An  equally  zealous  but  much  more  intel- 
ligent fellow-religionist,  on  hearing  this,  added  it  was  probably 
true,  but  very  misleading;  perhaps  a  quarter  do  know  how 
to  read  Arabic,  but  this  means  merely  that  they  know  how  to 
read  it  aloud  —  they  can  make  the  sounds,  but  have  little 
notion  as  to  the  meaning.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  the  Arabic 
prayers  are  said  and  that  the  Koran  is  read  in  the  homes  of 
the  great  majority.  It  is  read  aloud  in  Arabic,  not  one  of  the 
family  having  a  notion  as  to  what  it  is  all  about;  it  is  kept  on 
a  shelf  and  honored,  but  neither  obeyed  nor  understood. 

Of  course  this  is  not  true  of  all  Moslems.  In  many  homes, 
lowly  as  well  as  learned,  a  mullah  comes  once  a  month  or 
oftener  and  reads  the  Koran  to  the  family,  first  in  Arabic,  then 
in  translation.  Good  translations  of  the  Koran  in  the  vernac- 
ular exist  and  are  used  by  a  few.  And  of  course  the  vernacular 
preaching  in  the  Friday  mosque  is  a  source  of  very  real  reli- 
gious education  for  children  and  adults  alike. 

The  absence  of  a  professional  priestly  class  in  Islam  is  one 
of  the  causes  of  the  lack  of  systematic  religious  education.  The 
mullahs  or  moulvies  are  merely  learned  laymen  who  are  well 
read  in  the  Koran  and  its  theology  and  are  sometimes  willing 

1  According  to  the  191 1  census,  the  Moslems  are  the  most  illiterate  re- 
ligious community  in  India,  only  6.9  per  cent  of  the  males  and  .4  per  cent 
of  the  females  being  able  to  read.  For  Hindus  the  percentages  are  10.  i  and 
.8  (for  males  and  females  respectively),  while  for  Christians  they  are  29.3 
and  13.5.  The  percentage  is  still  higher  for  the  Buddhists  and  Jainas  and 
highest  of  all  for  the  Parsees. 

305 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

to  preach  and  teach  it.  The  imam  who  presides  at  the  Friday 
services  is  in  no  sense  a  priest,  but  merely  a  member  of  the 
community  paid  by  the  others  to  read  the  Koran  and  a  sermon 
and  to  have  charge  of  the  mosque.  He  is  chosen,  not  because 
of  any  special  learning  or  zeal  on  his  part,  but  often  merely 
because  he  is  unable  to  make  a  living  in  any  other  way.  As  a 
result  there  is  no  one  who  feels  it  his  special  duty  to  look  after 
the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  community.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  are  marked  advantages  in  this  absence  of  a 
priestly  class,  —  advantages  too  patent  to  any  one  acquainted 
with  Hinduism  to  need  enumeration.  The  Moslem  is  subject 
to  no  ecclesiastical  tyranny  and  at  the  mercy  of  no  superstition- 
spreading  authority.  There  is  no  mediator,  human  or  semi- 
divine,  between  him  and  his  God.  He  goes  in  prayer  directly 
to  Allah,  and  to  Him  alone  is  he  responsible  for  his  beliefs  and 
his  actions. 

Religious  and  moral  education  among  the  Moslems  in  India 
seems  to  have  reached  a  pretty  low  ebb.  My  friends  assured 
me,  however,  that  there  were  signs  of  the  turning  of  the  tide, 
and  they  were  somewhat  hopeful  (though  by  no  means  san- 
guine) over  the  future.  The  progressive  movement  may  be 
said  to  have  its  center  in  Aligarh,  where  there  is  a  large  Mo- 
hammedan college.  The  college  was  founded  by  the  great  Mos- 
lem reformer  Syed  Ahmad  Khan,  with  the  aim  of  providing 
young  men  with  a  sound  education,  the  central  part  of  which 
should  be  a  thorough  grounding  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Moslem 
faith  and  a  prolonged  and  careful  moral  training.  According 
to  the  Prospectus,  a  learned  and  pious  moulvie  supervises  the 
religious  life  of  the  students.  "The  first  period  of  each  day's 
work  is  devoted  to  the  lectures  on  theology  and  attendance  on 
these  lectures  is  enforced  by  regulations  as  stringent  as  those 
regulating  the  ordinary  class  work  of  the  college.  Attendance 
at  prayers  in  the  college  mosque  is  also  compulsory.  On  Fri- 
day the  college  is  closed  at  eleven  so  as  to  allow  the  students 
to  attend  at  Juma  prayers,  after  which  a  sermon  is  delivered 
by  the  resident  moulvie."  ^ 

The  college  at  Aligarh  is  not  the  only  institution  whose  aim 
is  to  give  the  Moslem  youth  an  education  that  shall  be  founded 
1  Quoted  in  Farquhar'e  Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India,  p.  94. 
306 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

in  religion.  Few  other  Moslem  schools,  however,  have  the  same 
liberal  tendencies  of  thought  to  be  found  at  Aligarh.  A  num- 
ber of  associations  have  been  formed  with  the  double  purpose 
of  giving  to  young  men  a  sound  orthodox  religious  training,  and 
of  combating  efforts  of  Christian  and  Arya  missionaries  and 
writers. 

Besides  these  movements  for  the  religious  education  of  the 
young,  something  is  being  done  by  means  of  itinerant  preachers 
to  rekindle  the  light  of  a  truer  Islam  among  nominal  Moham- 
medans; and  even  to  spread  the  faith  of  the  Prophet  among 
the  lower  strata  of  Hindu  society.  One  of  the  sufis  with  whom 
I  talked  spends  most  of  his  time  traveling  about  northern 
India  exhorting  his  fellow-Moslems  to  purer  lives  and  a  stricter 
Mohammedanism;  and  he  is  only  one  of  many  revivalists  (as 
we  should  call  them)  who  travel  about,  largely  at  their  own 
charges,  from  city  to  city,  preaching  in  the  mosques,  address- 
ing small  groups  of  the  faithful  in  private  homes,  and  exhort- 
ing individuals  to  a  stricter  observance  of  the  behests  of  the 
Prophet.  The  influence  of  these  men,  however,  must  not  be 
overrated,  for  their  numbers  are  few.  A  community  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  Moslems  may  get  two  or  three  such  visits  during 
the  course  of  a  year ;  and  many  a  village  is  almost  untouched  by 
their  influence.  But  the  need  of  their  ministration  is  very  real, 
for  a  large  proportion  of  the  sixty-seven  million  Moslems  in 
India  knows  but  little  about  their  religion.  "Of  many,  nom- 
inally Muslims,"  writes  Professor  Arnold,  "it  may  be  said  that 
they  are  half  Hindus:  they  observe  caste  rules,  they  join  in 
Hindu  festivals  and  practice  numerous  idolatrous  ceremonies. 
In  certain  districts  large  numbers  of  Mohammedans  may  be 
found  who  know  nothing  of  their  religion  but  its  name:  they 
have  no  mosques,  nor  do  they  observe  the  hours  of  prayer."  ^ 

Most  of  the  work  of  Moslem  preachers  is  devoted  to  winning 
back  these  lost  sheep;  but  the  effort  at  gaining  new  converts 
from  heathen  darkness  has  never  been  given  up.  Islam  has 
always  been  a  missionary  religion  and  it  is  so  to-day.  Moslem 
missions  have  been  of  a  different  sort  from  the  Christian, 
but  quite  effective  none  the  less:  and  their  influence  has  been 

*  The  Preaching  of  Islam  (second  edition.  New  York,  Scribners,  1913), 
p.  286. 

307 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

almost  equal  to  that  of  conquest  in  spreading  the  faith  of  the 
Prophet  in  the  really  marvelous  manner  to  which  history  bears 
witness.  Up  to  the  close  of  the  last  century  Islam  possessed 
practically  no  institutions  corresponding  to  our  foreign  mis- 
sionary societies  and  our  Collegio  di  Propaganda  Fide.  Instead 
of  paid  missionaries,  individual  enthusiasts  have  undertaken 
the  missionary  venture,  living  in  Oriental  simplicity  upon  the 
pittance  contributed  by  their  converts  or  by  the  "heathen" 
among  whom  they  labored.  And  besides  these  men,  who  have 
given  up  all  their  time  to  the  spreading  of  the  faith,  innumer- 
able men  and  women  engaged  in  ordinary  occupations  have 
felt  the  preaching  of  Islam  to  the  non-Moslems  among  whom 
they  lived  to  be  an  incidental  but  exceedingly  important  duty. 
Especially  has  this  been  true  of  the  Moslem  trader,  who  has 
carried  —  and  is  carrying  —  along  with  his  commercial  wares, 
the  message  of  the  Prophet  to  the  utmost  comers  of  Asia, 
Africa,  and  Polynesia.  It  is  to  these  unsystematic  methods  of 
propaganda  that  Islam  has  owed  its  converts  during  the  past 
two  centuries;  but  in  imitation  of  Christian  methods,  more 
systematic  efforts  are  now  being  made  by  Indian  Moslems. 
Professor  Arnold  ^  enumerates  seven  Moslem  missionary  socie- 
ties (as  we  should  call  them)  in  various  parts  of  India.  Their 
missionaries  adopt  the  methods  used  by  their  Christian  op- 
ponents, especially  street-preaching, ^  and  their  success  during 
the  last  thirty  years  or  more  has  been  considerable.  In  1887 
a  writer  in  the  "Spectator"  could  say,  "We  are  quoting  the 
results  of  long  and  minute  enquiry  when  we  say  that  in  India 
the  average  addition  to  Islam  by  conversion  exceeds  a  hundred 
thousand  a  year."  ^  It  is  questionable  whether  this  rate  has 
been  continued  to  the  present  time;  in  the  decade,  1891-1901, 
the  increase  was  at  the  rate  of  8.9  per  cent,  whereas  in  1901-I I 
it  fell  to  6.7  per  cent  —  a  rate  of  increase  no  higher  than  that 
of  the  total  population.  Still  a  considerable  amount  of  pros- 
elyting is  undoubtedly  going  on,^  especially  among  the  low- 
caste  Hindus,  who  find  the  same  improvement  in  their  social 

'  See  Appendix  III  to  The  Preaching  oj  Islam. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  285. 

3  Spectator  for  October,  1887,  p.  1383. 

*  I  should  add  that  there  are  at  present  three  (heterodox)  Moslem  mis- 
sionaries laboring  in  England. 

308 


THE  MOHAMMEDANS 

condition  by  embracing  Islam  that  often  prompts  them  to  ac- 
cept Christianity. 

And  it  should  be  added  that  with  this  social  improvement 
goes  a  ver\'  real  moral  and  religious  advance.  In  view  of  this 
fact  it  is  often  astonishing  to  note  the  hostility  manifested  by 
Christian  missionaries  and  other  Christians  toward  this  Mos- 
lem movement.  In  the  zeal  of  proselyting  and  the  zest  of  play- 
ing the  game  and  beating  the  other  fellow,  they  seem  often  to 
be  altogether  careless  of  the  real  spiritual  progress  made  by  the 
convert  to  Islam;  as  if  the  great  aim  were  not  the  uplift  of 
India's  oppressed  and  benighted  millions,  but  the  swelling 
of  the  numbers  in  the  next  missionary'  report.^ 

This  effort  to  teach  both  ignorant  Moslems  and  low-caste 
Hindus  the  most  elementary  principles  of  Islamic  monotheism 
and  morality  is  by  far  the  most  important  part  of  the  Moham- 
medan reform  movement.  The  attempt  to  liberalize  Moslem 
theology  is  not  meeting  with  any  great  success  nor  are  its  pros- 
pects at  present  very  bright.  A  few  really  liberal  thinkers  there 
are,  indeed,  working  most  enthusiastically  in  defense  of  a  spir- 
itual and  glorified  Islam  (such  as  never  was  on  land  or  sea!); 
men  who  are  seeking  to  spread  what  their  leader  calls  "the 
spirit  of  Islam,"  rather  than  the  letter.^  Their  influence,  how- 
ever, is  decidedly  limited  and  for  some  years  to  come,  at  any 
rate,  it  is  hardly  to  be  hoped  that  this  new  leaven  will  leaven 
any  appreciable  part  of  the  Mohammedan  lump.  The  message 
"  Back  to  the  Koran!"  on  the  other  hand,  —  with  a  correlated 
effort  to  purify  popular  Islam  from  various  Hindu  supersti- 
tions and  late  accretions,  —  is  more  promising,  though  it  can 
hardly  be  said  to  offer  much  to  the  really  intelligent  and  modem 
Moslem.  To  the  average  ignorant  Moslem  it  is,  indeed,  a  step 
in  advance;  for  the  animistic  and  non-moral  superstitions  to 
which  I  referred  just  now  as  "late  accretions"  are,  of  course, 
really  much  older  than  Mohammed  and  date  from  several 

^  It  should  be  said,  however,  in  explanation  of  the  missionar>''s  position 
that  he  is  considering  the  ultimate  welfare  of  the  convert  and  of  India,  and 
that  he  realizes  how  much  more  difficult  it  is  to  convert  a  Moslem  to  Chris- 
tianity than  a  low-caste  Hindu.  If  the  low-caste  Hindu  is  ever  to  become  a 
Christian  it  is  important  that  he  should  not  be  made  a  Moslem.  It  is  a  case 
of  the  good  being  the  worst  enemy  of  the  best. 

2  See  Amir  Ali's  The  Spirit  of  Islam  (Calcutta,  Lahiri,  1902). 

309 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

thousand  years  B.C.  Yet  we,  who  are  not  of  the  Faithful  and 
who  believe  that  the  Koran  was  written  in  the  seventh  century 
and  in  Arabia  (instead  of  before  all  time  and  in  heaven) ,  can- 
not regard  the  process  of  tying  up  more  tightly  to  that  rather 
primitive  book  as  an  assurance  of  any  very  great  progress.  A 
section  of  the  modem  world  whose  leaders  are  intent  chiefly  on 
making  fast  its  moorings  to  622  A.D.  is  destined  to  find  itself 
quite  lonely  before  long.  And  after  all,  the  most  hopeful  sign 
for  the  future  of  Mohammedanism  is  not  the  attitude  of  its 
scholars,  but  the  fact  that  there  are  some  indications  of  a  gen- 
eral feeling  of  the  necessity  of  better  education  among  all  the 
more  intelligent. 

One  more  token  of  progress,  or  at  least  of  the  possibility  of 
progress,  is  the  increasing  number  of  sects  throughout  Moslem 
India.  The  orthodox  Sunnis  bewail  this,  but  it  is  a  healthy  sign 
none  the  less,  and  shows  that,  at  least  within  certain  narrow 
limits,  many  Moslems  are  able  and  eager  to  do  some  thinking 
and  choosing  for  themselves.  The  points  of  difference  that  di- 
vide the  sects,  to  be  sure,  are  often  ancient  quarrels  that  should 
have  been  made  up  long  ago,  or  questions  of  doctrine  and  life 
that  seem  to  most  Westerners  surprisingly  trivial  or  antiquated. 
The  great  division,  of  course,  is  that  between  the  Sunnis  and 
the  Shiahs,  whose  chief  bone  of  contention  is  the  question 
whether  or  not  the  Kaliphs  who  were  not  of  the  house  of  Ali 
deserved  their  position.  It  is  really  an  old  political  feud  kept 
alive  to-day  by  the  fact  that  the  Shiahs  still  curse  the  first 
three  Kaliphs,  while  the  Sunnis  regard  them  as  saints,  and  also 
by  the  fact  that  the  Sunnis  consider  the  Turkish  Sultan  in  some 
sense  the  head  of  the  Moslem  world,  and  the  Shiahs  deny  this. 
Each  of  these  great  divisions  has  its  many  subdivisions,  some 
ancient,  some  recent,  in  origin.  Thus  most  of  the  Shiahs  in- 
sist that  the  "true  Imam"  or  successor  of  the  Prophet  is  hid- 
den away  by  the  Lord,  to  be  brought  forward  by  Him  at  some 
time  in  the  future,  while  the  Khojah  Shiahs  insist  that  His 
Highness  the  Agha  Khan  is  the  representative  of  the  true 
Imam.  The  majority  of  the  Sunnis  are  simply  Sunnis,  but 
there  is  also  a  great  number  of  Sunni  sub-sects,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  are  the  Wahabis,  a  body  of  Puritans  who  con- 
demn various  observances  —  such  as  prayer  at  the  tombs  of 
310  "— - 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

saints,  the  use  of  the  taziahs  at  Muharram,  the  celebration  of 
the  Prophet's  birthday,  etc.  —  which  ordinary  Sunnis  permit 
and  approve.  New  sects  are  being  constantly  formed  by  en- 
thusiasts who  get  a  more  or  less  local  following.  An  interesting 
example  of  this  is  the  sect  founded  only  a  few  years  ago  by  one 
Mirza  Ghulam  Ahmad.  Besides  urging  more  exact  obedience 
to  the  Koran  and  a  purer  life  and  worship,  the  chief  points  (and 
the  only  distinctive  points)  of  his  teaching  were:  (i)  that  Jesus 
was  not  taken  bodily  up  into  heaven  (as  other  Sunnis  believe), 
and  therefore  could  never  come  again  as  "the  Promised  Mes- 
siah"; and  (2)  that  he,  Mirza  Ghulam  Ahmad,  was  "the 
Promised  Messiah."  He  was  also,  it  seems,  the  Mahdi  (whom 
Mohammed  had  prophesied)  and  the  tenth  avatar  of  Vishnu, 
but  his  chief  role  was  that  of  the  Messiah.  He  was  greatly  in- 
censed at  the  claims  of  John  Alexander  Prophet  Elijah  Dowie, 
for  it  was  pretty  evident  that  the  Prophet  Elijah  was  unwilling 
to  undo  the  shoe-laces  of  the  Promised  Messiah;  and  he  offered 
to  prove  that  Dowie  was  an  impostor  by  proclaiming  pub- 
licly that  Dowie  would  die  before  he  did,^  —  which,  in  fact,  the 
Prophet  Elijah  was  kind  enough  to  do,  the  Promised  Messiah 
managing  to  hang  on  to  this  wicked  world  till  the  year  1908. 
This  his  five  hundred  thousand  followers  throughout  India 
naturally  regard  as  a  remarkable  fulfillment  of  prophecy  and 
incontestable  proof  of  his  Messiahship.^ 

But  in  spite  of  the  unimportant  nature  of  many  of  the  ideas  at 
the  basis  of  most  of  the  sects,  there  is  often  some  sound  feeling 
for  moral  reform  at  least  in  their  inception.  And  it  is  high  time 
for  some  such  movement.  For  both  religiously  and  morally 
large  sections  of  the  Moslem  world  are  in  a  bad  way.  Rank 
superstition  has  been  dominant  among  the  less  intelligent  Mos- 
lems for  centuries,  and  is  far  from  being  expelled  to-day.  In 
northwestern  India  and  in  Afghanistan,  I  am  told,  the  rever- 

1  See  "  Divine  Judgment  in  Dowie's  Death,  or  the  Fulfillment  of  a  Grand 
Prophecy,"  Review  of  Religions  (Quadion,  India)  for  April,  1907. 

'  Dowie  was  not  the  only  one  whose  death  Ghulam  Ahmad  foretold.  In 
fact  his  predictions  of  death  and  disgrace  for  various  individuals  came  so 
thick  and  fast  that  at  last  the  Government  had  to  interfere  and  make  him 
promise  to  keep  these  unpleasant  tidings  to  himself.  Before  its  interven- 
tion, however,  the  prophet  had  foretold  the  death  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  of  the  wicked  in  addition  to  that  of  John  Alexander. 

3" 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ence  at  the  tombs  of  saints  has  degenerated  into  something 
very  close  to  saint  worship:  —  all  my  Moslem  acquaintances, 
I  should  add,  deny  this  stoutly,  but  I  believe  their  loyalty  and 
zeal  here  mislead  them.^  Certainly  practices  quite  as  far  re- 
moved from  the  teachings  of  the  Prophet  are  to  be  found  in 
less  remote  comers.  One  of  the  most  zealous  Moslems  I  met 
told  me,  with  shame  and  sorrow,  of  sights  he  had  seen  in  La- 
hore —  Mohammedans  worshiping  their  taziahs  in  the  Mu- 
harram  procession,  and  bands  of  zealots  going  through  the 
streets  beating  their  bare  backs  with  spiked  chains.  Similar 
ascetic  practices  are  not  uncommon  in  other  parts  of  the  Mos- 
lem world.  In  the  feast  of  Nebby  Mousa  in  Jerusalem  I  have 
seen  Moslem  ascetics  marching  up  from  the  "tomb  of  Moses" 
with  skewers  passed  through  the  festering  flesh  of  their  cheeks. 
Mohammedans  have  never  been  noted  for  their  sexual 
purity,  and  both  missionaries  and  earnest  Moslems  have  as- 
sured me  that  they  are  growing  no  better.  They  are  said  to  be 
worse  in  this  respect  than  their  Hindu  neighbors  —  though  not 
so  bad,  it  should  be  added,  as  European  Christians.  Islam 
permits  polygamy  and  has  done  very  little  to  elevate  woman 
above  the  position  in  which  Mohammed  found  her.^  Certainly 
woman  owes  very  little  to  Islam.  It  is,  however,  a  libel  against 
that  religion  to  assert  that  it  denies  woman  a  soul.  Moslems 
believe  that  good  women  go  to  heaven  and  rejoin  their  hus- 
bands, and  that  married  women  shall  in  heaven  have  husbands 
if  they  want  them.  But  the  ideal  of  the  marriage  tie  is  for 
most  Moslems  not  very  lofty.  The  Prophet  knew  his  own  flesh 

1  There  is  plenty  of  evidence  for  this  (see,  e.g.,  W.  Crooke's  Popular  Re- 
ligion and  Folklore  of  Northern  India  [Allahabad,  Government  Press,  1894], 
pp.  127-44).  In  fact  there  is  nothing  at  all  surprising  about  it,  and  it  is  to 
be  met  with  in  various  parts  of  the  Moslem  world.  In  Syria  I  have  seen 
(as  every  traveler  in  that  country  has)  marks  of  superstitious  reverence  be- 
fore the  tombs  of  Mohammedan  saints.  Goldziher  has  shown  how  this  and 
other  similar  heathen  customs,  common  to  Arabia  and  many  other  parts 
of  the  world  in  the  days  before  Mohammed,  were  carried  into  Islam  and 
have  never  been  weeded  out.  See  his  Muhammedanische  Studien  (Halle, 
Niemeyer,  1888),  vol.  I,  pp.  229-63. 

*  This  view  is  stoutly  attacked  by  Amir  Ali,  in  his  Spirit  of  Islam  (part 
II,  chap.  iv).  He  points  out  that  Mohammed  did  something  to  regulate 
divorce  and  that  the  Koran  regards  marriage  as  a  sacred  institution.  Per- 
haps this  is  more  than  "very  little";  but  it  is  difficult  to  be  exact  in  ques- 
tions of  more  and  less. 

312 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

pretty  well,  and  was  very  generous  in  making  allowance  for  the 
flesh  of  his  (male)  followers.  One  may  have  four  wives,  pro- 
vided he  can  support  them  and  keep  them  from  quarreling; 
and  divorce  is  extremely  easy.  Still,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  sexual  relations  outside  of  marriage  are  possible  for  the 
Moslem  only  in  defiance  of  Islam.  A  good  Moslem  cannot  in- 
dulge in  that  sort  of  thing.  Drunkenness  has  never  been  a 
Mohammedan  vice,  owing  to  the  splendid  earnestness  and 
vigor  with  which  Mohammed  opposed  it.  And  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  Moslems  of  to-day  as  a  whole  have  forgotten 
their  ancient  virtue  of  temperance;  but  (owing  no  doubt  to 
the  influence  of  low-caste  Hindus  who  must  have  their  "todi," 
and  high-caste  Englishmen  who  must  have  their  whiskey-and- 
soda)  many  individual  Mohammedans  are  beginning  to  break 
the  strict  rules  of  their  Prophet.  The  better  Moslems  deplore 
these  tendencies  among  their  fellows  very  deeply.  One  of  them 
said  to  me:  "  Islam  is  the  best  and  most  moral  of  all  religions; 
its  ideals  are  the  highest  and  purest  and  noblest,  and  if  a  man 
tried  to  be  a  true  Moslem  he  would  have  to  be  a  very  good 
man  indeed.  But  as  a  fact  here  in  India  the  Moslems  are  a  very 
bad  lot.  They  are  the  worst  men  in  the  world  considering  their 
great  advantages  as  the  inheritors  of  the  only  true  religion. 
Islam  teaches  temperance,  purity,  and  honesty,  but  some  Mos- 
lems are  beginning  to  drink,  and  many  of  them  keep  prostitutes, 
and  are  very  dishonest  in  their  business  relations.  They  are 
even  neglecting  the  five  hours  of  prayer  and  no  longer  go  to  the 
mosque  on  Fridays.  They  have  forsaken  the  plain  teachings 
of  the  Koran.  It  is  probably  for  this  reason  that  such  terrible 
calamities  have  come  in  recent  years  upon  the  Moslem  world, 
—  the  loss  of  empire  in  India  and  these  last  terrible  defeats  of 
the  Turks.  It  is  the  judgment  of  God.  God  is  casting  us  off 
because  of  our  sins,  just  as  He  cast  oflf  the  Jews." 

I  cannot  but  think  that  some  of  the  moral  slackness  of  the 
Mohammedans  is  due  to  the  very  worldly  example  set  them  by 
their  human  ideal,  the  Prophet.  I  have  a  good  deal  of  admira- 
tion for  Mohammed ;  and  if  history  had  not  crowned  him  as  one 
of  the  Founders  of  Religions  and  so  forced  a  comparison,  my 
admiration  would  doubtless  be  more  enthusiastic  than  it  is. 
But  I  never  think  of  poor  old  fallible  Mohammed  introduced 

313 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

into  the  glorious  company  of  Zarathustra,  Buddha,  and  Jesus, 
without  having  a  picture  of  a  country  beau  suddenly  set  down 
in  a  Parisian  salon.  There  was  much  that  was  fine  in  Moham- 
med, especially  in  his  Mecca  days;  but  (to  put  it  generously) 
he  was  also  very  merciful  in  judging  his  own  shortcomings.  It 
is  said  that  a  stream  can  rise  no  higher  than  its  source,  and 
certainly  it  seems  possible  to  trace  in  the  history  of  Moslem 
morals  the  influence  of  its  Prophet's  sensuous  propensities, 
his  unscrupulous  grasping  after  power,  his  occasional  hard- 
heartedness  and  even  cruelty  toward  his  enemies.  I  am  not 
sure  that  the  saying  about  the  stream  quoted  above  really  ap- 
plies to  religions;  in  fact,  I  feel  persuaded  that  it  does  not.  As 
Homer  was  superior  to  his  Zeus,  so  many  Moslems  have  been 
better  men  than  their  Prophet.  And  not  only  better  than  he; 
they  have  been  most  kind  to  him  and  have  done  their  best  to 
retouch  the  reputation  of  the  poor  old  man,  and  explain  away 
half  his  shortcomings  and  forget  the  rest.  It  is  almost  pitiful 
to  talk  with  a  Mohammedan  to-day  about  his  Prophet  and 
note  the  extreme  efforts  made  to  view  all  his  actions  in  the 
most  admirable  light.  He  took  Zeid's  wife  to  his  own  harem, 
not  out  of  any  sensual  desires  of  his  own,  but  in  order  to  please 
Zeid,  who  had  become  tired  of  her,  etc.,  etc.  The  good  Moslem 
will  hear  nothing  of  Mohammed's  acts  of  cruelty  and  faithless- 
ness; instead  he  dwells  with  loving  admiration  upon  his  un- 
selfish devotion  and  his  persistent  preaching  during  the  dark 
days  at  Mecca  and  upon  the  beautifully  democratic  simplicity 
of  his  life  after  he  had  become  the  paramount  Lord  of  Arabia. 
Thus  the  historical  Mohammed  is  being  made  over  into  a  moral 
ideal  more  consonant  with  modem  notions.  Yet  if  modem 
feeling  is  influencing  the  ideal,  the  ideal  that  Mohammed 
actually  set  has  had  its  effect  upon  modern  Moslem  feeling: 
and  I  think  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Moslem  ethical  ideals 
of  to-day  are  much  lower  than  they  would  have  been  had  they 
started  with  a  Moses  or  a  Buddha  —  to  say  nothing  of  a 
Christ. 

I  would  not,  however,  leave  the  impression  that  the  Moslem 
ideal  is  low.  It  is  lower  than  the  Christian,  but  as  ideals  go  in 
this  world  it  is  fairly  high.  The  chief  trouble  with  the  Moslems 
(as  with  the  rest  of  us)  is  that  they  do  not  live  up  to  the  ideals 

314 


THE   MOHAMMEDANS 

they  have.  Judged  by  their  own  standards  they  are  in  a  sad 
moral  condition.  Yet  there  are  many  left  who  have  not  bowed 
the  knee  to  Baal.  The  very  earnestness  with  which  my  friend 
whom  I  quoted  above  bewailed  the  sins  of  the  Moslem  world 
showed  the  strength  of  the  moral  ideal  in  many  a  Moslem 
heart.  To  men  of  this  sort  the  stem  Daughter  of  the  Voice  of 
God,  who  speaks  in  no  uncertain  tones  in  many  a  noble  pas- 
sage of  the  Koran,  is  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  life.  An  example  of 
the  strong  control  it  exerts  over  even  small  details  was  shown 
me  (quite  unostentatiously  and  unintentionally)  by  the  man 
from  whom  I  have  just  quoted.  He  had  been  for  years  a  great 
smoker,  and  the  habit  was  strong  upon  him.  During  the  six 
weeks  of  our  acquaintance,  he  discovered  that  when  he  woke  in 
the  morning  the  desire  to  smoke  was  so  strong  that  either  he 
had  to  smoke  before  praying,  or  he  found  his  mind  filled  with 
the  thought  of  the  smoke  while  saying  his  prayers.  Thereupon 
he  determined  to  stop  smoking  altogether,  and  to  do  so  at  once 
without  any  tapering  off.  It  cost  him  two  very  unpleasant 
weeks,  but  he  conquered  and  broke  his  pleasant  habit  ab- 
solutely. Nothing  should  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  his 
morning  prayer. 

I  have  spoken  of  drunkenness  among  the  Moslems,  but  I 
should  add  that  the  drunken  Moslem  is  like  the  Sunday-School 
superintendent  who  robs  the  bank.  We  hear  a  good  deal  about 
both,  but  just  because  both  are  so  uncommon.  A  missionary 
friend  of  mine  told  me  once  (and  not  altogether  with  sadness) 
of  a  certain  saloon  where  the  bartender  was  a  Moslem.  Doubt- 
less what  he  said  was  true;  but  has  it  ever  seemed  worth  while 
to  any  one  to  make  mention  of  a  saloon  in  which  the  bartender 
was  a  Christian? 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Islam,  if  taken  and  obeyed  in  its 
most  ideal  form,  is  capable  of  being  a  great  force  for  the  moral 
life.  To  take  one  small  point  only  —  it  is  impossible  (as  one  of 
my  Moslem  friends  pointed  out)  to  say  one's  prayers  thought- 
fully and  devoutly  five  times  every  day,  thereby  directing  one's 
thoughts  to  God  and  to  the  desire  for  righteousness,  without 
becoming  a  better  man.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  some  of  my 
readers  to  see  what  is  said  of  this  more  ideal  side  of  Islam 
by  an  English  nobleman  who  has  recently  turned  Moslem;  — 

315 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

I  refer,  of  course,  to  Lord  Headley.  He  writes:  "Though  my 
gratitude  for  God's  favors  and  loving  care  has  been  profound 
from  my  earliest  youth,  I  cannot  help  observing  that  within 
the  past  few  years,  since  the  pure  and  convincing  faith  of  the 
Muslims  has  become  a  reality  in  my  heart  and  mind,  I  found 
a  happiness  and  security  never  approached  before.  Freedom 
from  the  weird  dogmas  of  the  various  branches  of  the  Chris- 
tian churches  came  to  me  like  a  breath  of  pure  sea  air,  and  on 
realizing  the  simplicity  as  well  as  the  illuminating  splendor  of 
Islam,  I  was  as  a  man  emerging  from  a  cloudy  tunnel  into  the 
light  of  day."  ^  Mohammedans,  he  believes,  are  better  Chris- 
tians than  most  Christian  missionaries;  and  he  adds,  "I  say 
'better  Christians'  advisedly,  because  the  charity,  tolerance, 
and  broad-mindedness  of  the  Muslim  faith  come  nearer  to  what 
Christ  himself  taught  than  do  the  somewhat  narrow  tenets  of 
the  various  Christian  churches.  ...  I  received  a  letter  —  it  was 
apropos  of  my  leaning  towards  Islam  —  in  which  the  writer 
told  me  that  if  I  did  not  believe  in  the  divinity  of  Christ  / 
would  not  be  saved.  The  question  of  the  divinity  of  Christ 
never  seemed  to  me  nearly  so  important  as  that  other  ques- 
tion: Did  He  give  God's  message  to  mankind?  Now,  I  if  had 
any  doubt  about  this  latter  point  it  would  worry  me  a  great 
deal:  but,  thank  God,  I  have  no  doubt,  and  I  hope  that  my 
faith  in  Christ  and  His  inspired  teachings  is  as  firm  as  that  of 
any  other  Muslim  or  Christian.  As  I  have  often  said  before, 
Islam  and  Christianity  as  taught  by  Christ  himself  are  sister 
religions,  only  held  apart  by  dogmas  and  technicalities  which 
might  very  well  be  dispensed  with.  In  the  present  day  men 
are  prone  to  become  atheists  when  asked  to  subscribe  to  dog- 
matic and  intolerant  beliefs,  and  there  is  doubtless  a  craving 
for  a  religion  appealing  to  the  intelligence  as  well  as  to  the 
sentiments.  Who  ever  heard  of  a  Muslim  turning  atheist? 
There  may  have  been  cases,  but  I  very  much  doubt  it."  ^ 

In  equally  enthusiastic  strain,  Mohammed  AH  writes  of  his 
religion:  "It  teaches  men  to  display  high  morals  under  the 
most  adverse  circumstances;  to  be  honest  even  when  honesty  is 
likely  to  lead  one  into  complications ;  to  speak  truth  even  when 

1  From  an  article  by  Lord  Headley  in  Muslim  India,  vol.  l,  no.  10. 
'  Quoted  in  Muslim  India  from  the  London  Observer. 

316 


THE  MOHAMMEDANS 

one's  truthful  statement  Is  against  those  nearest  and  dearest  to 
one;  to  show  synnpathy  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  one's  own  in- 
terests; to  be  patient  under  the  hardest  afflictions;  to  be  good 
even  to  those  who  have  done  evil.  At  the  same  time  it  teaches 
the  middle  path :  it  teaches  men  to  exercise  the  noble  qualities 
which  have  been  placed  in  their  nature  by  God  while  transact- 
ing their  own  affairs.  It  does  not  inculcate  severance  from 
one's  worldly  connections;  it  requires  men  to  be  chaste,  but 
not  by  castration;  it  requires  them  to  serve  God,  but  not  as 
monks;  it  enjoins  them  to  spend  their  wealth,  but  not  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  sit  down  'blamed  and  straitened  in  means';  it 
teaches  them  to  be  submissive,  but  not  by  losing  self-respect; 
it  exhorts  them  to  forgive,  but  not  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
bring  destruction  upon  society  by  emboldening  culprits;  it  al- 
lows them  to  exercise  all  their  rights,  but  not  so  as  to  violate 
others;  and  last  of  all  it  requires  them  to  preach  their  own 
rdigion,  but  not  by  abusing  others."  ^ 

These  quotations,  of  course,  idealize  Islam  —  not  so  much 
by  what  they  say  as  by  what  they  leave  unsaid.  Its  theology 
is  primitive  and  crude,  and  there  is  little  room  within  it  for 
mysticism  —  though,  to  be  sure,  the  sufis  have  insisted  on 
bringing  some  mysticism  into  it,  despite  the  deism  of  the  Koran. 
Excellent  as  are  many  of  its  ethical  teachings,  they  are  at  best 
only  on  a  par  with  those  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  spiritual 
insight  and  loftiness  of  ideal  cannot  be  seriously  compared  with 
those  of  ChristianitY-  There  were,  no  doubt,  many  fine  things 
about  Mohammed;  but  as  an  ethical  teacher  and  a  moral  in- 
spiration he  has  not  much  to  give  to  the  modem  world.  And 
(most  fatal  of  all  its  weaknesses,  perhaps)  orthodox  Islam  is 
bound  —  and  wishes  to  be  bound  —  hand  and  foot  to  the  words 
and  sentences  of  a  book  written  by  an  Arab  in  the  seventh 
century'.  If  it  could  once  shake  off  this  bondage  and  take  as  its 
ideal  something  more  lofty  than  the  teachings  and  example  of 
poor  old  Mohammed,  there  might  be  in  it  the  making  of  a  great 
religion.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  should  do  so  it  would  lose 
what  is  chiefly  distinctive  in  it  and  become  a  kind  of  Unitarian 
Christianity. 

*  Islam,  pp.  59-60. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   PARSEES 

IT  may  seem  quite  out  of  true  proportion  to  devote  a  whole 
chapter  to  the  religion  of  a  people  who  number  but  one 
hundred  thousand  out  of  India's  three  hundred  and  fifteen 
million;  but  the  importance  of  the  Parsees  in  histor>%  their 
prominence  both  commercially  and  intellectually  in  Indian 
society,  and  the  remarkably  enlightened  nature  of  their  re- 
ligion will  certainly  justify  it.  As  every  one  knows,  the  "Par- 
sees"  are  the  remnant  of  the  ancient  Persian  Zoroastrians. 
When  the  Sasanian  or  mediaeval  Persian  Empire  fell  before  the 
rising  power  of  Islam,  at  the  battle  of  Nahawand  in  642,  the 
great  majority  of  the  Zoroastrians  yielded  to  the  direct  or  in- 
direct persecutions  of  the  conquerors  and  exchanged  Zoroaster 
for  Mohammed.  A  few  thousand  only  clung  to  their  ancient 
faith,  and  the  majority  of  these,  to  avoid  further  persecution, 
bade  farewell  to  their  native  land  and  migrated  to  the  western 
coast  of  India.  Here  they  were  kindly  received,  and  their  set- 
tlements soon  began  to  spread  all  over  Gujerat,  of  which  they 
have  formed,  from  that  day  to  this,  the  most  important  com- 
mercial class.  In  the  census  of  191 1  there  were  exactly  one  hun- 
dred thousand  one  hundred  Parsees  in  India,  nearly  all  of  them 
within  the  Bombay  Presidency.  Besides  these  there  are  per- 
haps ten  thousand  still  in  Persia,  and  smaller  numbers  in  scat- 
tered settlements  in  other  parts  of  the  East  —  such  as  Aden, 
Ceylon,  Siam,  and  China;  but  the  headquarters  of  the  religion 
of  Zoroaster  is  in  and  about  the  city  of  Bombay. 

The  Parsee  creed  is  still  distinguished  by  the  noble  simplicity 
which  marked  the  faith  of  their  great  prophet.  Its  nature  may 
in  large  part  be  seen  by  the  following  authoritative  formula  or 
confession  of  faith  which  every  Parsee  child  must  learn  in  the 
ancient  Zend  language  and  which  every  Parsee,  young  or  old, 
recites  (in  Zend)  several  times  a  day:  — 

"  I  am  a  worshiper  of  God  [Mazda].  I  am  a  Zoroastrian  wor- 
318 


THE   PARSEES 

shiper  of  God.  I  agree  to  praise  the  Zoroastrian  religion  and  to 
believe  in  that  religion.  I  praise  good  thoughts,  good  words, 
good  deeds.  I  praise  the  good  Mazdayagnian  religion  which 
allays  dissensions  and  quarrels,  which  brings  about  kinship  or 
brotherhood,  which  is  holy,  which  is  the  greatest,  the  best,  and 
the  most  excellent  of  all  religions  that  exist  or  shall  in  future 
exist,  and  which  is  the  religion  revealed  by  God  [Ahura 
Mazda]  to  Zoroaster.  I  ascribe  all  good  to  Ahura  Mazda. 
This  is  the  praise  or  profession  of  the  Mazdayagnian  relig- 
ion." ^ 

The  Mazdayagnian  or  Parsee  religion  thus  claims  to  have 
been  revealed  by  God  to  Zoroaster.  In  the  glorious  com- 
pany of  the  prophets  this  Aryan  Zoroaster,  or  Zarathustra,  as 
his  name  is  properly  spelled  and  pronounced,  occupies  a  very 
illustrious  place.  According  to  Professor  Jackson  -  and  Dr. 
West,  he  was  bom  about  660  and  died  about  600  B.C.,  being 
thus  a  contemporary  of  Jeremiah,  and  preceding  by  a  century 
or  less  Xenophanes,  Buddha,  Mahavira,  Confucius,  and  Lao 
Tse.  He  was  born  in  Iran,  among  a  people  who  had  many 
gods  and  many  superstitions  and  whose  religion  bore  but 
slight  relation  to  morality;  and  from  the  age  of  thirty  he  went 
about  preaching  that  there  was  but  one  God  and  that  He  was 
preeminently  a  God  of  Righteousness.  During  twelve  years  of 
constant  missionary  work  in  various  parts  of  his  land  he  made 
but  one  convert.  But  he  persisted  in  the  delivery  of  his  mes- 
sage until  at  last  he  had  succeeded  in  converting  one  of  the 
small  states  of  Iran.  And  he  died  at  last  under  the  daggers  of 
the  heathen,  while  worshiping  at  the  altar  of  his  God,  a  martyr 
of  the  true  faith. 

In  the  "Catechism  of  the  Zoroastrian  Religion,"  which  is 
regarded  as  a  semi-authoritative  statement  of  the  faith,  three 
doctrines  are  emphasized  as  the  principal  theological  tenets. 
These  are:  (i)  "the  Existence  of  Mazda,  the  All-Wise  Lord; 
(2)  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  or  the  Life  Hereafter;  (3)  our 
Responsibility  for  our  thoughts,  words,  and  actions."  Though 
the  nature  and  existence  of  God  are  supposed  to  have  been 

*  A  Catechism  of  the  Zoroastrian  Religion  (Bombay,  Petit  Printing  Works, 
191O,  p.  3. 

*  See  Appendix  II,  Jackson's  Zoroaster  (New  York,  Macmillan,  1901). 

319 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

revealed  to  Zarathustra,  the  whole  question  is  treated  in  the 
manner  of  "Natural  Religion,"  and  the  "Argument  from  Na- 
ture" is  called  in  evidence  much  more  than  the  original  rev- 
elation. To  Ahura  Mazda  are  assigned  the  usual  attributes  of 
omnipotence,  omniscience,  eternity,  omnipresence,  etc.  He  is 
also  regarded  as  the  Creator.  And  here  we  come  upon  a  rather 
interesting  point  in  Zoroastrian  theology.  The  oldest  of  the 
sacred  books  teach  that  in  addition  to  Ahura  Mazda  there  is 
another  powerful  spirit  who  seems  to  be  co-eternal  with  Him 
and  who  created  all  the  evil  things  in  the  universe,  as  Ahura 
Mazda  created  all  the  good  ones,  and  that  for  thousands  of 
years  there  has  been  a  struggle  between  these  two,  a  struggle 
which  still  goes  on  and  in  which  we  may  play  our  part.  To  many 
this  has  seemed  the  finest  and  most  inspiring  point  in  all  the 
Mazdayagnian  religion.  And  a  dramatic  presentation  of  world 
history  it  surely  is,  for  it  pictures  Time  as  a  long  battle  between 
the  Power  of  Light  and  the  Power  of  Darkness  in  which  the 
whole  universe  is  involved;  it  emphasizes  the  duty  of  each  man 
to  choose  in  which  army  he  will  serve ;  it  gives  him  confidence 
in  the  final  victory  of  the  good;  and  throws  around  each  little 
effort  that  he  may  make,  no  matter  how  prosaic  and  insignifi- 
cant it  seem,  the  awful  glamour  of  a  cosmic  conflict.  This  con- 
ception also  does  away  with  the  persistent  problem  of  evil,  and 
spares  the  Most  High  all  responsibility  for  sin,  for  the  suffer- 
ing of  the  innocent,  and  for  the  defeat  of  the  ideal  —  things  all 
too  patent  and  too  common  in  this  wicked  world. 

But  this  frank  dualism  has  seemed  too  "  unphilosophical " 
for  many  modern  Parsees,  and  they  reject  the  accusation  of 
being  dualists  with  the  usual  repugnance  which  that  word 
arouses  in  so  many  modem  bosoms.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how 
they  attempt  to  evade  it.  They  tell  us  that  when  in  the  sacred 
books  the  name  Ahura  Mazda  is  used  as  in  opposition  to  the 
Evil  Spirit,  it  means  not  God,  but  a  spirit  created  by  Him  to  be 
a  secondary  Creator  of  the  good  things  of  the  Universe,  and 
who  by  an  odd  coincidence  had  the  same  name  with  the  Most 
High.  Both  this  Creator  of  good  and  the  Creator  of  evil,  we  are 
assured  (though  with  little  authority  from  the  Avesta),  are 
"  under"  God,  and  God  "works  through  "  both.  God,  therefore, 
is  not  opposed  to  evil,  but  is  the  ultimate  and  indirect  Creator 
320 


THE   PARSEES 

of  all  things  that  are,  whether  we  know  them  as  good  or  bad. 
"He  is,  in  fact,  not  unlike  the  inscrutable  First  Cause,  whom  we 
may  regard  with  awe  and  reverence,  with  love  and  hope,  but 
whom  we  cannot  pretend  to  define  or  to  understand.  ...  It  is 
evident  that  this  simple  and  sublime  religion  is  one  to  which,  by- 
whatever  name  we  may  call  it,  the  best  modem  thought  is  fast 
approximating.  Men  of  science  like  Huxley,  philosophers  like 
Herbert  Spencer,  poets  like  Tennyson,  might  all  subscribe  to 
it."  ^  In  short,  Ahura  Mazda,  instead  of  being  the  Great  God 
of  Righteousness,  is  repainted  after  the  style  of  Shiva  or  even  of 
"Brahman  without  qualities,"  to  whom  "shadow  and  sunlight 
are  the  same."  It  is  pretty  plain  to  what  this  emasculation 
of  the  splendidly  definite  and  moral  conception  of  Zarathustra 
is  due.  It  is  an  attempt  to  make  Zoroastrianism  "ap- 
proximate" to  "the  best  of  modem  thought."  In  these  days 
Herbert  Spencer  is  a  better  name  to  conjure  with  than  Zara- 
thustra, and  a  religion  which  would  be  up  to  date  must  surely 
be  "monistic."  And  so  all  the  distinctive  features  of  the  theol- 
ogy' of  Zoroastrianism,  with  its  unique  advantages  for  amoral 
view  of  the  world,  are  given  up. 

Given  up  they  are,  however,  only  if  one  will  be  logically  con- 
sistent. And  with  the  usual  splendid  inconsistency  of  the  re- 
ligious consciousness  the  Parsee  divines  who  insist  most  strenu- 
ously upon  Monism,  persist  in  maintaining  as  emphatically  as 
any  one  all  the  moral  advantages  which  only  a  dualism  can 
consistently  claim.  God  is  the  Creator  of  evil  as  well  as  of 
good.  He  is  the  Power  behind  all  things,  the  unknowable  First 
Cause,  etc.,  and  yet  He  is  also  emphatically  the  God  of  Right- 
eousness, the  Foe  of  Evil,  the  Brlnger  of  good  things  only,  — 
in  short,  He  retains,  in  spite  of  his  promotion  or  abstraction 
or  evaporation  into  an  "All-One,"  most  of  the  positive  and 
definite  and  one-sided  qualities  which  Zarathustra  so  persist- 
ently preached.  Of  course  this  is  like  trying  to  eat  one's  cake 
and  keep  it  too,  but  it  is  the  expression  of  a  laudable  impulse. 
And  as  a  fact  Zoroastrianism  is  for  all  the  Parsees,  except  a 
few  sensitive  philosophers,  in  effect  as  much  a  dualism  as 

^  Quoted  with  approbation  from  Mr.  Samuel  Lang  by  Mr.  Jivanji  Jam- 
shedji  Modi,  in  his  paper  on  The  Religious  System  of  the  Parsees.  (Bombay, 
Eklucation  Society,  1903.) 

321 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ever.  Its  monistic  aspect  is  reserved  for  a  few  very  abstract 
discussions,  and  in  fact  is  seldom  brought  out  except  when  some 
non-Parsee  makes  the  monstrous  accusation  that  Zoroas- 
trianism  is  dualistic.  The  rest  of  the  time  Ahura  Mazda  ceases 
to  be  the  indeterminate  and  unknowable  God  back  of  all  phe- 
nomena, whom  "Herbert  Spencer  might  subscribe  to,"  and 
becomes  the  God  of  Righteousness  and  the  Foe  of  Evil  whom 
Zarathustra  preached  and  loved. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Parsees,  in  fact,  the  emphasis  which 
their  religion  puts  upon  morality  is  its  distinctive  feature. 
Duty  is  something  which  its  sacred  books,  with  all  their  for- 
malism, have  never  lost  from  sight  —  duty  toward  one's  God, 
one's  neighbor,  and  one's  self;  in  fact  toward  the  whole  crea- 
tion. In  a  particular  way  it  has  emphasized  especially  the 
duties  of  physical  and  mental  purity,  of  health  of  body  and 
mind,  of  productiveness  and  of  charity.  The  whole  of  the 
moral  law  is  supposed  to  be  summed  up  in  the  three  words 
that  are  on  every  Parsee's  lips  and  early  impressed  on 
his  mind  —  humata,  hukhta,  hvarshta  —  "good  thoughts,  good 
words,  good  deeds."  The  little  Catechism  to  which  I  have 
referred  says  in  connection  with  these  three  keywords  that 
"it  is  these  that  lead  us  to  salvation."  "If  you  will  always 
keep  your  thoughts  pure,  that  is,  if  you  will  think  of  nothing 
but  what  is  true  and  proper,  and  if  after  such  true  and  good 
thoughts  you  will  speak  nothing  but  the  truth,  and  if  after 
speaking  nothing  but  the  truth  you  will  do  nothing  but  what 
is  good  and  righteous,  then  Ahura  Mazda  will  reward  you  for 
all  that,  and  you  will  pass  a  happy  life."  ^ 

"It  is  these  that  lead  us  to  salvation."  Salvation  consists 
in  part  in  the  very  life  of  duty,  in  part  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
rewards  of  the  next  life.  Zoroastrianism,  like  nearly  all  re- 
ligions, teaches  a  future  life  of  rewards  and  punishments,  but 
these  are  to  be  gained  not  through  the  usual  Indian  process  of 
transmigration,  but  in  a  heaven  and  hell  in  most  respects  like 
those  which  Christianity  has  taught.  As  is  the  case  with 
Christianity,  moreover,  heaven  and  hell  may  be  pictured  in 
more  or  less  literal  and  local  or  more  or  less  symbolical  fashion 
according  to  the  intellectual  level  of  the  particular  Parsee. 
»  Page  1 6. 
322 


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ZARATHUSTRA-AN    IDKALIZEU    PICTURE    FOUND   IN    MOST    PARSEE    HOMES 


THE  PARSEES 

Many  think  of  them  as  definite  places  ;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
one  of  the  great  Parsee  scholars  with  whom  I  had  a  long  talk 
believes  that  heaven  and  hell  mean  simply  the  continued  life 
and  activity  of  the  soul  after  the  death  of  the  body,  —  that  we 
shall  go  on  developing  in  the  direction  of  our  deliberate  choice, 
some  for  the  better,  some  for  the  worse.  The  Avesta  word  for 
heaven  is  Vahishta-ahii,  which  passed  into  the  Persian  word, 
Behesht,  an  exact  equivalent  of  our  English  "best."  Thus 
heaven  literally  means  "  the  best  life."  And  my  wise  and  saintly 
old  Parsee  friend  teaches  the  children  that  when  they  strive 
from  the  Good  toward  the  Best,  they  are  already  on  their  way 
to  Heaven. 

Humata,  hukhta,  hvarshta — "good  thoughts,  good  words, 
good  deeds,  it  is  these  that  lead  us  to  salvation."  A  significant 
and  a  noble  phrase.  If  salvation  is  to  be  taken  in  a  truly  moral 
sense  it  must  mean  salvation  from  sin.  He  —  and  he  only  — 
who  has  attained  to  good  thoughts,  good  words,  good  deeds  is 
saved.  And  no  one  can  do  my  good  deeds  for  me  nor  think 
my  good  thoughts  for  me  —  they  must  be  my  very  own.  For 
righteousness  is  a  matter  of  the  will,  and  no  one  can  will  right- 
eousness forme,  and  in  my  place.  And  so  the  Zoroastrian  Cate- 
chism asks,  "Then  according  to  the  teaching  of  our  religion 
there  is  no  savior  for  one  other  than  himself?"  And  the  an- 
swer is:  "Of  course  not.  Every  man  is  his  own  savior.  His 
deeds  alone  will  bring  out  his  salvation.  A  man  is  the  archi- 
tect of  his  own  fortune.  He  is  his  own  savior."  Zarathustra 
has  an  honored  place,  indeed.  He  is  the  great  prophet  who 
first  revealed  from  God  to  man  the  true  religion ;  and  as  such 
his  picture  is  in  most  Parsee  homes,  and  his  name  is  enshrined 
in  all  Parsee  hearts.  But  in  no  further  sense  is  he  regarded 
as  a  savior. 

On  hearing  the  changes  so  constantly  rung  upon  "good 
thoughts,  good  words,  good  deeds,"  one  is  tempted  to  say, 
"This  is  all  very  well;  but  is  it  not  rather  trite,  or  at  least  a  bit 
indefinite?  WTiat  sort  of  deeds  are  'good  deeds'?  "  —  And  to 
this  the  Sacred  Books  and  the  traditional  teaching  give  an  an- 
swer which,  while  it  does  not  go  very  deep  into  the  fundamental 
questions  of  morality',  does  give  some  degree  of  practical  guid- 
ance.   Mingled  with  a  great  deal  of  the  undeniably  trite,  one 

323 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

finds  in  Zoroastrian  teaching  a  characteristic  point  of  viev/  on 
moral  questions  which  leads  to  fairly  practical  results.  That 
point  of  view  is  the  utilitarian.  The  virtues  which  it  teaches 
are  decidedly  the  virtues  of  this  world  and  for  the  sake  of  this 
world.  The  result  is  a  very  practical  and  sensible  system  of 
ethics  which  so  far  as  it  goes  must  win  the  assent,  if  not  the 
admiration,  of  all  who  study  it. 

It  is  because  of  this  utilitarian  aim  that  Zoroastrianism  lays 
such  emphasis  upon  purity.  Zarathustra,  or  his  early  followers, 
perceived  the  immense  importance  of  personal  purity,  physi- 
cal and  mental,  for  the  health  and  strength  of  the  individual 
and  for  the  power  of  the  race.  Hence  the  innumerable  precau- 
tions —  many  of  them  puerile  and  imaginar\%  to  be  sure — 
prescribed  in  the  ancient  books  and  continued  in  modem  prac- 
tice against  every  kind  of  physical  contagion.  Almost  equal  to 
purity  in  the  emphasis  which  it  receives  is  charity,  especially 
to  the  poorer  members  of  the  Parsee  community.  The  Parsees 
are  by  common  consent  easily  the  most  charitable  natives  of 
India.  All  their  own  poor  are  so  well  taken  care  of  by  their 
more  fortunate  brothers  that  there  are  no  Parsee  beggars.  Be- 
sides a  great  deal  of  private  giving,  and  many  large  charitable 
institutions  of  various  sorts,  such  as  hospitals,  schools,  etc., 
there  exists  among  the  Parsees  an  establishment  for  systematic 
charity  of  a  sort  probably  nowhere  paralleled  until  a  few  years 
ago  it  occurred  to  Mr.  Rockefeller  to  found  an  institution  of 
the  same  sort.  I  refer  to  the  "Parsee  Panchayat"  and  its 
charity  fund.  The  Panchayat  was  formerly  a  council  of  elders 
who  had  the  general  oversight  and  control  of  the  Parsee  com- 
munity-. This  council  was  long  since  dissoved,  but  the  trustees 
of  its  moneys  have  become  a  corporation  for  the  distribution  of 
funds  given  for  charitable  purposes.  Its  capital  is  now  between 
four  and  five  million  rupees,  and  though  the  trustees  give  away 
every  year  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  rupees,  the  fund  is 
always  growing,  because  of  the  constant  contributions  to  it  by 
Parsees  rich  and  poor.  It  is  the  custom  to  mark  great  events 
of  life  —  joyful  or  sad  —  by  making  contributions  to  this  fund. 
Every  Parsee  widow  or  orphan  who  has  no  other  means  of 
support,  in  fact  every  indigent  member  of  the  communit>',  is 
helped  or  altogether  taken  care  of  out  of  this  fund,  after  the 

324 


THE   PARSEES 

trustees  have  first  inquired  into  the  case  to  see  how  far  such 
assistance  is  really  needed.  And  not  only  individuals  but  char- 
itable institutions  receive  assistance  from  the  Panchayat, 
prominent  among  these  latter  being  a  temporary  home  for 
wandering  Parsees  from  abroad,  and  an  asylum  for  the  help- 
less —  a  sort  of  poor-house  —  whose  inmates  are  free  to  do  as 
they  like  except  that  they  must  obey  the  one  rule  never  to 
beg  of  any  one. 

In  characteristically  utilitarian  fashion,  the  Vendidad  singles 
out  three  kinds  of  good  deeds  w^hich  are  peculiarly  meri- 
torious—  namely,  (i)  to  help  the  poor;  (2)  to  help  a  man  to 
marr>'  and  thus  enable  him  to  live  a  virtuous  and  honorable 
life  and  bring  honorable  children  into  the  world ;  (3)  to  give  edu- 
cation to  those  who  are  in  search  of  it.  And  these  aims  remain 
no  dead  letter  wuth  the  Parsee  communit>\  Not  only  are  they 
the  most  charitable  native  people  of  India,  but  probably  also 
the  best  educated.  Illiteracy  with  them  is  at  a  minimum,^  and 
the  higher  education  of  women  as  well  as  of  men  is  ver\'  com- 
mon. The  stranger  in  Bombay  is  not  there  twent\--four  hours 
before  he  acquires  the  habit  of  looking  about  for  a  Parsee  when 
in  need  of  information.  The  great  majorit\^  of  them  whom  one 
meets  in  the  streets  can  speak  English,  and  the  evidence  of 
intelligence  and  education  which  one  sees  in  their  faces  and  in 
their  bearing  easily  marks  them  out  from  all  but  the  exceptional 
Hindus  and  ^Moslems  in  the  cit>'. 

And  their  courtesy  is  as  marked  as  their  intelligence.  Their 
sacred  books,  in  fact,  urge  upon  them  to  extend  their  kindness 
even  to  the  animal  kingdom  and  to  the  insentient  earth.  This 
is,  however,  due  to  no  sentimentality,  but  to  the  combination 
of  genuine  humanity  with  a  very  canny  eye  to  the  main  chance; 
—  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  extract  from  the  Catechism :  — 

"Q.  In  the  Creation  round  about  us,  who  draws  our  atten- 
tion next  to  our  fellow-men? 

''A.  All  animals  and  living  creatures.  We  should  treat  all 
animals  with  kindness. 

"Q.  What  about  noxious  creatures  or  harmful  animals? 

1  As  has  been  pointed  out  on  a  previous  page,  their  percentage  of  illit- 
eracy is  considerably  lower  than  that  of  the  Christians  or  of  any  other 
religious  community  in  India. 

325 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

"i4.  As  for  the  animals  or  beasts  of  prey  which  harass  men 
and  harmless  beasts  of  burden,  such  a  state  of  existence  should 
be  produced  for  them  as  would  not  permit  of  their  doing  harm. 

"  Q.  How  should  we  act  towards  the  beasts  of  burden  and 
other  animals  serviceable  to  mankind? 

"A.  We  should  treat  them  with  kindness.  We  should  give 
them  their  proper  food  and  nourishment.  We  must  exact  from 
them  as  much  work  only  as  lies  in  their  power  to  do.  We  should 
not  treat  them  cruelly  for  the  sake  of  our  bread  and  should  not 
exact  from  them  work  beyond  their  capacity.  When  we  do  not 
treat  them  properly,  they,  as  it  were,  curse  us.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  we  treat  them  well,  they  bless  us.  .  .  . 

"Q.  What  is  meant  by  saying  that  Ahura  Mazda  expects 
us  to  promote  the  growth  and  development  of  His  creation? 

"A.  The  Creator  of  the  Universe  expects  from  us  that  we 
may  so  bring  about  the  further  growth  of  His  creation  as  would 
bring  about  a  better  enjoyment  of  the  creation  and  as  would 
make  the  world  more  and  more  prosperous. 

"Q.  Will  you  give  an  instance? 

"A.  Yes.  For  instance,  a  man  promotes  the  work  of  growth 
and  development  when  he  brings  about  the  growth  of  two 
blades  of  com  where  formerly  grew  only  one.  In  this  way  he 
pleases  Ahura-Mazda.  Though  he  may  have  enough  for  him- 
self, he  must  increase  the  growth  of  com  so  that  others  can  buy 
it  cheaply  and  readily."  ^ 

A  religion  like  this  should  surely  win  the  plaudits  of  an  age 
which  reads  history  and  morality  and  everything  else  from  the 
economic  point  of  view;  and  if  the  Parsees  admitted  proselytes, 
we  might  expect  to  see  Professor  Carver  and  his  fellows  who 
value  religion  by  its  economic  fruits  trooping  over  to  Zoroas- 
trianism  as  "the  religion  worth  having."  The  result  of  this 
utilitarian  tendency  is  evident  among  the  Parsees  as  a  com- 
munity. Success  in  business  looms  very  large  in  their  eyes,  and 
they  bear  the  usual  marks,  good  and  bad,  of  a  pronounced  com- 
mercialism. "  If  it  may  be  said  that  Americans  are  all  after  the 
mighty  dollar,"  writes  Mr.  W.  B.  Stover,  "it  may  yet  more 
truthfully  be  said  that  the  Parsees  are  all  after  the  silver  rupee. 
Between  Bombay  and  Ahmedabad,  and  on  out  toward  Wad- 
*  Pages  29-31. 
326 


THE   PARSEES 

wan,  nearly  all  the  saloon-keepers  in  towns,  villages,  and  coun- 
try places,  are  Parsees  —  because  it  pays.  There  is  money  in 
it.  The  man  with  money  is  the  most  respected.  However, 
there  are  not  a  few  noble  exceptions  to  the  above."  ^  And  I 
should  here  repeat  what  I  have  already  said,  that  the  Parsee  is 
very  generous  with  his  money.  He  is  a  shrewd  business  man, 
but  he  is  very  seldom  stingy. 

The  Parsee  morality  and  religion  is,  in  short,  very  sane, 
practical,  and  utilitarian.  It  belongs  to  what  the  German  phi- 
losophers call  the  '^Verstand"  with  very  little  of  the  "Ver- 
niinft "  about  it.  After  watching  the  professional  beggars  and 
self-tormentors  of  Benares,  one  comes  upon  the  eminently  sane 
Parsee  with  a  sense  of  relief.  But  the  endless  repetition  of  this 
perfect  sanity  which  one  finds  in  the  Parsee  community,  with 
so  little  to  break  the  spiritual  commonplace,  becomes  itself 
at  last  rather  monotonous;  and  one  almost  longs  for  a  ragged 
sannyasi  again,  who  has  dared  to  turn  his  back  upon  bread  and 
butter,  and,  going  out  under  the  stars  with  staff  and  bowl,  to 
risk  his  all  in  the  great  adventure  of  faith.  Zoroastrianism  is 
much  too  sane  for  this  sort  of  thing.  It  despises  asceticism,  nor 
has  it  any  place  for  mysticism.  It  has  no  great  enthusiasms 
which  disdain  to  count  the  cost,  no  missions  and  no  self-con- 
sciousness of  a  mission,  no  irrational  vistas  and  visions,  and 
little  poetry.  There  is  no  nonsense  about  it.  It  is  prosaically 
sane  and  decidedly  of  this  earth.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  prose  has  certain  solid  advantages  and  that  sanity  on  the 
whole  is  quite  as  important  as  dreaming.  And  the  moral  quali- 
ties of  the  Parsee  community,  emanating  as  they  do  directly 
from  the  teaching  of  its  religion,  have  a  solidity  and  bulk  that 
no  one  can  either  be  blind  to  or  deny.  We  must  not  expect  all 
conceivable  virtues  to  be  combined  in  anything  of  this  world; 
and  whether  it  appeals  to  our  individual  taste  or  not,  there  is 
no  denying  that  the  faith  and  teachings  of  Zarathustra  form 
a  very  noble  religion. 

There  is,  however,  one  unfortunate  feature  in  the  actual 

practice  of  the  faith  of  the  Parsees  which  deserves  especial 

notice  if  we  are  to  form  a  true  estimate  of  it,  not  as  a  theory  but 

as  a  religion.   For  the  whole  of  a  religion  is  not  to  be  found  in 

'  India;  A  Problem,  p.  54. 

327 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

any  set  of  books,  no  matter  how  sacred  or  authoritative  they 
be,  but  in  the  lives  of  the  people.  The  unfortunate  feature  I 
have  in  mind  is  the  surprising  ignorance  of  the  bulk  of  the  Par- 
sees  as  to  their  own  religion.  The  Parsees  as  a  whole  are  a  well- 
educated  people,  as  education  goes  in  India;  but  their  educa- 
tion is  almost  altogether  secular  and  utilitarian  and  practical 
even  in  the  home,  and  is  intended  to  prepare  the  child  to  get 
on  well  in  this  world,  and  to  furnish  him  with  just  enough  of 
the  external  rites  and  ceremonies  to  pass  him  on  into  the  next. 
His  religious  education  is  mostly  of  the  objective  sort  and  is 
apparently  regarded  as  a  sort  of  other-worldly  life  insurance. 
Up  till  quite  recently  almost  no  systematic  effort  was  made  to 
spread  throughout  the  community,  or  to  communicate  to  the 
rising  generation,  any  intelligent  attitude  toward  the  truths 
and  doctrines  which  were  for  Zarathustra  the  essential  thing. 
A  superficial  formalism  and  externalism  has  been  the  bane  of 
Zoroastrianism  almost  ever  since  the  death  of  its  founder.  The 
sacred  shirt  and  the  sacred  thread  must  be  put  on  properly 
every  morning,  and  taken  off  and  put  on  again  several  times 
each  day  with  the  recitation  of  the  proper  formula;  no  beef  or 
pork  must  ever  be  eaten;  the  sacred  fire  must  be  properly  pro- 
duced, fed,  and  protected;  the  priest  must  perform  the  proper 
ceremonies  with  the  haoma  plant  and  the  urine  of  the  bull ;  and 
all  good  Parsees  must  at  last  be  properly  devoured  by  vultures 
in  the  Towers  of  Silence ;  but  the  truths  about  God  and  morality 
need  be  known  only  in  their  most  meager  outlines.  A  practical 
and  hard-headed  race,  they  regard  prayer  and  other  rites  quite 
objectively  as  things  that  must  be  done,  and  the  rules  of  religion 
as  laws  which  must  be  obeyed.  To  many  of  them  it  has  never 
occurred  that  the  spirit  in  which  the  prayer  is  said  or  the  law 
obeyed  is  of  any  importance. 

These  ceremonies,  so  scrupulously  observed,  are,  to  be  sure, 
not  merely  arbitrary  external  acts,  but  have  always  some  more 
or  less  remote  utilitarian  purpose  or  some  symbolic  significance. 
In  fact  the  Parsees,  like  other  Orientals,  carry  symbolism  to  a 
point  which  to  us  Westerners  often  seems  wearisome  if  not 
incredible.  Thus  the  kusti,  or  sacred  thread,  which  the  Parsee 
must  wear  upon  his  body  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  is 
made  up  of  seventy-two  strands,  put  together  in  six  bundles  of 
328 


THE   PARSEES 

twelve  each;  and  each  of  these  strands  and  bundles,  together 
with  the  spaces  between  them,  is  symbolic  of  something  or 
other,  from  the  seventy-two  chapters  of  the  Yasna  to  the 
space  between  heaven  and  earth.  The  kusti  symbolizes  all 
these  things;  but  only  the  learned  few  know  it.  For  the  rank 
and  file  it  is  sufficient  to  wear  the  kusti  continually  and  to 
untie  and  retie  it  at  certain  stated  times. 

As  said  above,  neither  in  the  symbolism  nor  in  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  Law  has  there  been  till  very  recently  any  sys- 
tematic effort  at  instruction  for  the  old  or  young.  The  Parsees 
have  no  weekly  holy  day,  as  have  the  Christians,  Jews,  and 
Mohammedans,  no  meeting  for  religious  instruction,  nothing 
corresponding  to  our  preaching  services  or  Sunday-School. 
On  certain  special  days  —  perhaps  six  or  seven  times  a  year  — 
a  sermon  will  be  given  in  one  of  the  Fire  Temples,  but  these 
occasions  are  of  too  rare  occurrence  and  too  disconnected  to 
have  any  appreciable  influence.  The  Fire  Temples,  indeed, 
are  always  open  to  the  Parsee  (and  to  him  alone),  and  at  any 
time  he  may  enter  and  find  the  priests  officiating  before  the 
sacred  flame,  the  most  marvelous  of  all  the  symbols  of  God. 
But  as  there  is  no  special  time  for  him  to  go,  and  as  he  will 
probably  find  few  others  there  when  he  arrives,  he  goes  but 
seldom.  Some  go  as  often  as  once  a  month,  some  but  once  a 
year.  And  indeed  there  seems  to  be  little  enough  to  bring  them 
there.  To  see  a  priest  bowing  before  the  sacred  fire  is  prob- 
ably no  very  inspiring  sight;  and  one  can  pray  quite  as  well  at 
home  or  out  of  doors. 

For  the  priests  as  a  class  enjoy  no  great  respect  from  their 
co-religionists.  In  fact  most  of  them  are  looked  down  upon 
as  a  lazy,  ignorant,  and  greedy  lot,  —  and  I  am  here  using 
words  employed  by  Parsee  acquaintances  of  mine.  The  ma- 
jority of  them  are  unable  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
ancient  sacred  texts  which  they  read  and  recite;  and  divine 
truth  seems  to  play  a  much  less  important  r61e  in  their  thoughts 
than  the  possible  size  of  the  forthcoming  fee.  And  in  morals 
they  are  certainly  not  superior  to  others.  One  Parsee  whom 
I  met  expressed  his  opinion  of  them  by  saying  he  would  take 
a  priest's  word  perhaps  as  readily  as  a  carpenter's,  but  not 
more  so.    Moreover,  it  seems  questionable  whether  they  are 

329 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

improving  noticeably  in  education  and  worth,  or  whether  they 
are  even  keeping  pace  in  these  things  with  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity. The  reason  for  this  state  of  things  is,  in  my  infor- 
mant's opinion,  to  be  traced  largely  to  economic  causes.  The 
priest  is  assured  of  a  living  —  he  will  not  starve :  but  his  living 
will  be  a  very  poor  one  and  he  can  rise  financially  only  a  little 
way.  The  amount  he  can  earn  as  a  priest,  which  is  entirely 
made  up  of  fees  and  presents,  is  quite  limited,  while  the  Parsee 
layman  —  merchants  and  professional  men  —  form  the  rich- 
est class  in  rich  Bombay;  and  there  are  no  sumptuary'  laws 
among  the  Parsees  to  prevent  the  lavish  display  of  wealth  be- 
fore the  faces  of  the  poor.  Moreover,  the  Parsee  priest  is  not 
allowed  to  go  into  any  business  or  be  anything  but  a  priest. 
He  may  not  turn  an  honest  anna  by  any  extra  labor  or  little 
venture  of  his  own.  His  wife,  indeed,  helps  out  somewhat  by 
making  sacred  threads,  the  manufacture  of  which  is  a  monop- 
oly belonging  to  the  wives  of  priests.  But  there  is  no  other 
way  by  which  the  priest's  sorry  little  income  may  be  increased. 
Now,  while  the  Parsee  priesthood  is  an  hereditary'  ofhce  in  the 
sense  that  only  the  sons  of  priests  may  enter  it,  there  is  no  law 
forcing  the  son  of  a  priest  to  follow  in  his  father's  profession 
unless  he  so  chooses.  Hence  the  more  able  and  ambitious  of 
the  priest's  sons,  seeing  what  their  father's  life  is  like,  go  into 
some  other  profession  or  into  business,  where  the  great  rewards 
of  life,  as  measured  in  rupees  and  annas,  are  to  be  won,  and 
only  the  indolent  sons  as  a  rule  care  to  enter  the  priesthood. 
Naturally  these  indolent  persons  find  much  study  a  weariness 
unto  the  flesh,  and  hence  only  a  few  learn  Zend  and  are  capable 
of  understanding  the  scriptures  which  they  read.  For  the  Par- 
see  priest  is  not  required  to  understand  what  he  reads;  the  only 
requirement  is  that  he  should  be  able  to  make  the  right  sounds 
at  the  right  time.  And  as  a  fact  the  great  majoritv-  of  the 
priests  are  almost  as  ignorant  of  their  sacred  literature  and  of  the 
meaning  of  the  prayers  which  they  recite  as  are  the  laity. 

And  this  is  saying  a  good  deal.  For  though  every  Parsee, 
layman  as  well  as  cleric,  learns  in  childhood  and  recites  daily 
a  number  of  prayers,  these  prayers  he  learns  and  recites  in  a 
transliteration  (not  a  translation)  of  the  original  Zend.  Trans- 
lations of  them,  indeed,  exist,  but  it  is  the  exceptional  Parsee 
330 


THE   PARSERS 

who  takes  the  trouble  to  look  them  up  or  to  teach  his  children 
the  meaning  of  the  strange  syllables  in  a  tongue  long  dead 
which  he  requires  them  to  commit  to  memory.  Probably 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  laity,  in  the  opinion  of  one  of  my  Parsee 
informants,  are  in  this  condition  of  ignorance  as  to  the  prayers 
which  they  offer,  —  they  know  how  to  make  the  sounds  but 
nothing  more. 

Some  of  the  Parsee  Theosophists  (for  the  T.  S.  has  Parsee 
as  well  as  Hindu  members)  justify  this  repetition  of  meaning- 
less syllables,  as  might  be  expected,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Zend  verses  have  a  virtue  of  their  own  and  are  productive  of 
"vibrations"  in  the  ether,  which  have  a  powerful  effect  upon 
the  nature  spirits.^  Not  many  of  the  Parsees,  however,  are 
acquainted  with  this  "scientific"  explanation,  and  manage 
to  get  on  without  any.  The  more  intelligent,  of  course,  regret 
and  deplore  this  ignorant  and  superstitious  kind  of  worship  as 
much  as  any  one  could.  One  Parsee  gentleman,  in  speaking 
of  it,  told  me  that  he  had  never  attended  a  Christian  service 
until,  in  crossing  the  Atlantic,  he  found  himself  in  a  Sunday 
service  in  the  cabin.  "I  was  very  much  struck,"  he  said,  "by 
the  prayers  and  the  reading  from  the  Bible.  They  were  all  in 
English.  It  made  a  great  effect  upon  me,  appealing  to  both  my 
mind  and  my  heart.  It  roused  in  me  a  longing  for  God  such  as 
I  had  never  felt  in  any  Parsee  temple.  And  I  would  five  times 
rather  hear  the  Bible  read  like  that  than  any  of  my  own  sacred 
books  in  their  unknown  language." 

Some  of  the  more  advanced  Parsees  like  my  friend  are  in 
favor  of  having  their  sacred  books  translated  and  used  in  the 
vernacular  in  temple  and  home.  They  feel  that  if  this  could 
only  be  done  it  would  work  a  religious  revival  in  the  com- 
munity.   For  my  own  part  I  fear  this  would  bring  only  added 

^  This  I  was  told  by  a  Parsee  Theosophist  acquaintance.  The  Theoso- 
phist  Parsees  also  "preach  to  the  less  educated  classes  of  people  that  there 
is  high  efficacy  in  offering  flowers  and  milk  and  cocoanuts  to  the  waters;  they 
preach  to  the  people,  as  an  act  of  special  religious  merit,  to  fall  prostrate 
before  and  kiss  imaginary-  pictures  of  their  prophet ;  they  exhort  people  to 
make  a  show  of  penitence  by  a  vigorous  slapping  of  cheeks.  They  represent 
to  the  people  that  the  sole  efficacy  of  their  prayers  consists  in  the  material 
form  resultant  upon  the  physical  vibrations  created  by  their  utterances." 
(Quoted  in  Farquhar's  Modern  Religious  Movements  from  the  Journal  oi  the 
Iranian  Association,  for  March,  1913.) 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

disappointment.  The  Parsees  who  have  never  read  a  translation 
of  their  sacred  books  naturally  suppose  that,  being  inspired, 
they  form  a  very  wonderful  literature  full  of  divine  truth.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  aside  from  a  few  memorable  passages,  they 
form  a  most  prosaic  and  "uninspired"  mass  of  reading.  A  very 
large  part  of  them  is  given  up  to  matters  of  ceremonial  purity  and 
impurity  (which,  indeed,  sometimes  have  their  practical  bear- 
ing on  health) ;  another  large  part  to  some  very  primitive  myths ; 
while  the  passages  that  deal  with  moral  questions  are  mostly 
devoted  to  commonplaces  and  redundancies  which  leave  one 
no  wiser  than  he  was  before.  "Virtue  is  the  path  of  God;  vice 
that  of  the  devil.  Good  thoughts,  good  words,  good  deeds  con- 
stitute virtue;  evil  thoughts,  evil  words,  evil  deeds  constitute 
vice.  Honesty,  charity,  and  truthfulness  constitute  the  former; 
dishonesty,  want  of  charity,  and  falsehood  constitute  the  lat- 
ter." This  is  a  sample  of  the  finest  sort  of  thing  to  be  found  in 
the  Parsee  sacred  books.  And  doubtless  what  it  says  is  all  true 
and  fine ;  but  what  has  it  either  of  instruction  or  of  inspiration 
for  a  man  in  the  twentieth  century?  How  can  an  intelligent 
Parsee  read  it  without  feeling  its  triteness  even  more  than  its 
truth?  And  when  one  turns  from  this  to  the  interminable  dis- 
cussions of  ritualistic  cleanliness  and  purification  which  fill  the 
Vendidad,^  one  feels  that  the  Parsees  have  suffered  no  great 
loss  in  having  no  adequate  and  popular  translation  of  their 
sacred  books.  Doubtless  their  sacred  literature  was  well 
enough  adapted  to  the  times  in  which  it  was  written.  But  the 
world  has  grown  beyond  it  —  the  Parsees  along  with  the  rest 
of  the  world ;  and  it  has  no  real  message  for  them  to-day  except 
the  one  fundamental  truth  that  God  is  Good  —  a  message  which 
in  the  modern  worship  of  Monism  is  only  too  far  from  being 
trite  or  unnecessary. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  function  of  the  sacred  books  of 
the  Parsees  is  to  bind  them  to  the  past  and  to  preserve  for  their 
religion  the  enormous  force  which  comes  from  a  conscious  tra- 
dition. And  this  is  a  function  the  value  of  which  it  would  be 
hard  to  overemphasize.  It  is  this  emotional  force  of  tradition 
as  much  as  anything  else  that  marks  the  difference  between 

1  For  a  translation  (by  West)  see  the  5.  B.  E.,  vol.  ni  (American  ed.,  New 
York,  Christian  Lit.  Co.,  1898.) 


THE  PARSEES 

a  religion  and  a  philosophy,  and  enables  the  least  spiritual 
individual  members  to  draw  upon  the  collective  and  cumu- 
lative spirituality  of  the  community  stored  up  through  centu- 
ries of  religious  experience.  And  the  same  great  function  is 
performed  by  the  public  cult  of  whatever  form.  It  is  easy  for 
us  Protestant-minded  Americans  to  minimize  the  importance 
of  cult,  and  in  fact  it  is  often  difficult  for  us  to  realize  its  value 
both  as  a  link  with  the  past  and  as  an  expression  of  the  com- 
munal religious  life.  Most  of  us  need  to  learn  greater  respect 
for  worship  and  tradition  wherever  they  are  met  with.  It  is 
in  this  light  that  we  should  view  the  religious  customs  of  the 
Parsees,  foremost  among  which  is  their  ancient  Fire  Ceremony. 
The  Parsees  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as  "fire-worshipers." 
This,  of  course,  is  an  ignorant  calumny.  Parsees  are  no  more 
fire  worshipers  than  Christians  are  bread  and  wine  worshipers. 
Every  religion  has  felt  the  need  of  some  external  act  which  all 
could  perform  or  could  see  performed  as  an  expression  of  the 
common  faith  or  purpose  or  emotion.  And  Zoroastrianism, 
as  far  back  as  the  days  of  its  great  founder,  chose  as  its  chief 
symbolic  act  the  public  and  perpetual  reverence  for  that  most 
brilliant  and  mysterious  element  of  God's  creation,  Fire.  "We 
look  to  fire,"  says  the  Parsee  Catechism,  "with  reverential 
feelings  as  the  manifested  form  of  the  power  of  heat  and  light 
permeating  this  world,  and  also  as  the  symbol  of  the  splendor 
and  glory  of  the  Creator.  Then,  in  the  case  of  the  sacred  fire 
of  the  fire  temples,  the  religious  ritual  in  its  consecration  adds 
some  elements  of  moral  thoughts."  What  these  moral  thoughts 
may  be  in  the  case  of  the  more  intelligent  and  spiritual  mem- 
bers of  the  community  who  look  behind  the  external  act  to  its 
symbolic  meaning,  is  suggested  by  the  following  passage  from 
Mr.  Modi's  "Religious  System  of  the  Parsees":  — 

"When  a  Parsee  goes  before  the  sacred  fire,  which  is  kept  all 
day  and  all  night  burning  in  the  fire  temple,  the  officiating 
priest  presents  him  the  ashes  of  a  part  of  the  consumed  fire. 
The  Parsee  applies  it  to  his  forehead  just  as  a  Christian  applies 
the  consecrated  water  in  his  Church,  and  thinks  to  himself: 
'  Dust  to  dust.  The  fire,  all  brilliant  and  shining  and  resplen- 
dent, has  spread  the  fragrance  of  the  sweet-smelling  sandal- 
wood and  frankincense  roundabout,  but  is  at  last  reduced  to 

333 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

dust.  So  it  is  destined  for  me.  After  all,  I  am  to  be  reduced  to 
dust  and  have  to  depart  from  this  transient  life.  Let  me  do 
my  best  to  spread,  like  this  fire,  before  my  death,  the  fragrance 
of  charitN"  and  good  deeds  and  lead  the  life  of  righteousness  and 
knowledge  before  others." 

For  I  would  not  leave  the  impression  that  the  Parsees 
merely  perform  external  ceremonies  with  no  understanding  of 
their  meaning  and  no  religious  sentiment  in  the  performance. 
There  are  many,  many  intelligent  men  and  women  among 
them  by  whom  the  value  of  external  rites  is  understood  as  well 
as  it  is  by  intelligent  Christians.  And  even  among  the  most 
ignorant  members  of  the  community',  the  religious  customs  so 
loyally  adhered  to  probably  have  in  many  cases  some  ver>-  real 
spiritual  and  moral  eflfect.  The  man  who  pauses  five  times  a 
day  to  turn  his  thoughts  toward  God  and  to  reafhrm  to  him- 
self the  value  and  importance  of  "good  thoughts,  good  words, 
good  deeds,"  even  though  at  the  same  time  he  recite  a  list  of 
meaningless  syllables,  can  hardly  fail  to  find  his  life  in  some 
wise  influenced  by  the  practice.  And  of  course  even  the  most 
ignorant  Parsees,  though  quite  unable  to  translate  or  para- 
phrase the  prayers  which  they  recite,  do  know  in  a  dumb  sort 
of  way  what  they  are  about;  and  sometimes,  though  by  no 
means  always,  they  doubtless  accompany  the  words  they  say 
with  a  really  prayerful  state  of  mind.  What  prayer  means  to 
the  more  intelligent  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  quo- 
tation: "x^U  Parsee  prayers  begin  with  a  resolve  to  do  acts 
that  will  please  Almighty  God.  The  resolve  is  followed  by  an 
expression  of  regret  for  past  evil  thoughts,  words,  or  deeds.  A 
Parsee  in  beginning  his  prayers  repents  his  errors  and  says, 
'O  Omniscient  Lord,  I  repent  of  all  my  sins;  I  repent  of  all 
evil  thoughts  that  I  may  have  entertained  in  my  mind,  of  all 
the  evil  words  that  I  may  have  spoken,  of  all  the  evil  actions 
that  I  may  have  committed;  O  Omniscient  Lord,  I  repent  of  all 
the  faults  that  may  have  originated  with  me,  whether  they 
refer  to  thoughts,  words,  or  deeds,  whether  they  appertain  to 
my  body  or  my  soul,  whether  they  be  in  connection  with  the 
material  or  with  the  spiritual  world.'  "  ^ 

I  said  above  that  no  one  could  see  the  Parsees  at  prayer  and 
1  J.J.  Modi.o/).  ci7.,p.  33. 
334 


THE   PARSEES 

not  feel  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  real  dc\-otion  mingled 
with  their  formalism.  And  whoever  wills  may  judge  for  him- 
self by  going  any  evening  in  the  year  to  the  western  water- 
front of  Bombay.  The  Parsee  may  pray  an\-vvhere,  but  he 
prays  best  in  the  presence  of  some  form  of  fire,  the  supreme 
symbol  to  him  of  the  Eternal  God.  And  especially  when  the 
sun  sets  over  the  sea  the  Parsee  feels  impelled  to  turn  his  face 
toward  the  great  luminar>'  and  his  heart  toward  its  great  Crea- 
tor. And  so  every  evening,  an  hour  or  more  before  sunset, 
they  begin  to  gather  on  the  beach  in  Bombay,  facing  the  set- 
ting sun,  and  from  that  time  till  dusk  there  is  a  continual  pro- 
cession of  them,  going  and  coming,  all  silent  and  quite  informal, 
worshiping  together  and  yet  each  alone.  On  feast  days  there 
are  thousands  lining  the  shore,  and  every  day  the  number 
mounts  up  into  the  hundreds.  Some  stay  but  five  or  ten  min- 
utes, some  half  an  hour  or  more.  Each  one  first  dips  his  hands 
into  the  sea,  if  the  tide  be  full,  —  or  if  at  ebb  tide,  then  into 
some  little  pool  of  salt  water,  —  and  touches  his  forehead  with 
it.  After  this  ceremonial  washing  he  takes  his  stand  facing  the 
west,  unties  his  sacred  thread,  snaps  it  out  to  full  length,  and 
usually  touches  his  forehead  with  it  or  fingers  it  as  if  it  were  a 
rosar>'.  Then  he  replaces  it,  t>-ing  it  properly  about  him,  and 
recites  the  proper  prayers  in  the  Zend  language.  This  much 
all  do,  and  the  less  devout,  having  done  this,  return  homeward, 
or  stay  and  gossip  with  their  friends.  But  the  more  devout  — 
and  these  are  many  —  continue  their  prayers  beyond  this 
minimum,  either  reading  additional  prayers  from  a  prayer-book 
(in  transliteration)  or  making  spontaneous  prayers  of  their  owti 
—  or  probably  both.  One  old  gentleman  whom  I  have  seen 
more  than  once  on  the  Bombay  beach  seemed  to  combine  in  a 
striking  way  (for  I  watched  him  closely)  both  the  formalism 
and  the  spirituality  of  his  religion  —  a  combination  which  is 
often  so  genuine  in  the  East,  and  which  an  Anglo-Saxon  Prot- 
estant often  finds  it  so  difficult  to  understand  or  even  respect. 
After  going  through,  most  scrupulously,  all  the  forms  just  de- 
scribed, this  man  stood  for  perhaps  fifteen  minutes,  with  head 
thrown  back,  gazing  at  the  yellow  glow  of  the  evening  sun — 
a  glow  that  comes  in  the  tropics  only  some  time  after  the  sun 
has  disappeared.    His  lips  did  not  move  and  he  did  not  seem 

335 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

to  be  reciting  any  prayer,  but  his  face  had  an  expression  of  de- 
votion and  exaltation  such  as  one  sees  in  old  Italian  paintings 
of  the  saints.  Sometimes  he  put  his  hands  together  in  the  com- 
mon Christian  attitude  for  prayer  (an  attitude  common  to  all 
Orientals),  but  generally  he  was  quite  still,  except  for  a  slight 
involuntary  swaying  of  the  body.  At  the  end  of  his  prayer  — 
or  meditation  —  he  bowed  down  three  times  to  the  west,  then 
to  the  south,  to  the  east,  to  the  north,  and  again  to  the  west, 
touching  his  head  to  the  ground  in  each  case.  Then  going  to  a 
pool  of  salt  water  he  dipped  his  hands  in  it,  as  at  the  beginning 
of  his  prayer,  and  touched  his  forehead.  This  he  did  five  times, 
turning  completely  around  each  time.  Finally,  he  took  out  an 
envelope  filled  with  small  flowers,  emptied  it  into  the  little 
pool,  and  turned  homeward  through  the  dusk. 

There  is  something  about  this  daily  out-of-door  prayer- 
meeting  of  the  Parsees  —  silent,  informal,  collective  yet  indi- 
vidual —  which  is  very  nearly  unique.  The  dome  of  the  eter- 
nal heavens  is  the  cathedral,  the  setting  sun  acts  as  altar,  and 
the  golden  orange  of  the  tropical  evening  sky,  bending  over 
the  endless  reaches  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  lends  a  framework  of 
suggestiveness  which  can  hardly  fail  of  its  influence  on  either 
Parsee  or  Christian. 

The  combination  of  individualism  and  communal  life  exhib- 
ited in  this  prayer-meeting  is  typical  of  the  whole  Zoroastrian 
religion.  As  each  Parsee  says  his  prayers  by  and  for  himself, 
with  no  officiating  priest  for  him  to  follow,  so  in  his  faith  and 
life  he  is  responsible  to  God  alone  and  not  answerable  for  his 
views  to  any  ecclesiastical  authority.  The  Parsees  have  no 
heresy  trials.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  their  social  consciousness 
is  exceedingly  strong,  and  they  prize  their  racial  unity  and  sep- 
ateness  so  highly  that  it  has  resulted  in  the  erection  of  a  wall 
between  them  and  all  others  which  none  are  allowed  to  scale. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  striking  things  about  the  Parsees.  Per- 
suaded as  they  are  that  theirs  is  the  best  religion  in  the  world, 
they  not  only  do  nothing  to  spread  it,  sharing  none  of  the 
proselyting  zeal  so  notable  in  Christians  and  Mohammedans, 
but  they  simply  will  not  permit  of  any  proselyting  on  the 
part  of  any  of  their  number.  No  one  born  out  of  the  Parsee 
fold  can  ever  be  allowed  to  enter  it,  no  matter  how  firmly  he 
336 


THE   PARSEES 

believes  in  Zarathustra  and  all  his  teachings,  no  matter  how 
ardently  he  longs  to  worship  before  the  sacred  fire,  no  matter 
how  conscientiously  he  practices  humata,  hukhta,  hvarshta. 
The  sudrah  and  kusti  —  the  sacred  shirt  and  thread  —  are  not 
for  him:  he  can  never  be  admitted  within  the  fire  temples,  and 
when  he  dies  he  cannot  be  granted  the  privilege  of  having  his 
flesh  devoured  by  vultures  and  his  bones  reduced  to  dust  in 
the  well  of  the  Tower  of  Silence.  A  notable  instance  of  this 
exclusiveness  occurred  not  long  ago  when  a  very  wealthy  and 
influential  Parsee,  who  resided  part  of  the  year  in  Paris,  con- 
verted his  French  wife  to  the  Zoroastrian  faith,  invested  her 
with  the  sacred  thread  and  shirt,  and  applied  for  her  recogni- 
tion as  a  Parsee  and  her  admission  into  the  Fire  Temple  at 
Bombay.  The  question  became  an  issue  for  the  whole  Parsee 
community,  and  was  finally  tried  (odd  as  it  may  seem  to  us 
Westerners)  before  the  Government  court  of  justice.  The 
court  decided  that  there  was  no  precedent  of  a  non-Parsee  be- 
coming one  through  conversion  or  marriage,  and  that  therefore 
the  lady  in  question  had  no  right  to  be  admitted  to  the  fire 
temples  or  to  consider  herself  a  Parsee.  Proselytism,  in  short, 
is  simply  impossible. 

The  ground  taken  by  the  conservatives  in  this  matter  is  that 
the  whole  question  should  be  regarded  as  social  rather  than 
religious.  If  the  Parsees  should  let  down  the  bars  and  admit 
outsiders,  the  French  wives  admitted  would  form  a  very  small 
proportion  of  the  proselytes.  Neither  would  there  be  many 
Brahmins  nor  other  desirable  members  of  the  Indian  com- 
munity among  those  found  knocking  at  their  gates.  The  over- 
whelming majority  of  those  admitted  would  be  low-caste  Hin- 
dus. And  these  would  greatly  lower  the  standard  of  the  Parsee 
community'  and  destroy  its  individuality.  The  Parsees  are  a 
very  successful  and  ambitious  people,  and  notably  proud  of 
their  success,  and  they  have  no  taste  for  the  highways  and 
hedges.  They  want  none  of  their  number  to  be  poor  and  lowly; 
and  they  prefer  that  the  poor  and  lowly  should  not  be  of  their 
number.  Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  occupy  a 
very  anomalous  position.  Their  great  founder  gave  his  entire 
life  to  the  work  of  proselytism,  and  so  long  as  they  had  a  land 
of  their  own  they  were  not  averse  to  making  converts:  but 

337 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

since  their  migration  to  India  they  have  been  but  a  handful  in 
the  midst  of  the  heathen  (as  they  regard  their  idolatrous  neigh- 
bors), and  it  is  only  since  then  that  they  have  adopted  this 
seemingly  strange  rule  against  spreading  their  religion.  And 
indeed  it  is  easy  to  see  what  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  the  result  had  they  not  drawn  the  line  very  strictly  around 
their  little  community  on  entering  the  land.  They  would  have 
been  simply  absorbed  into  the  great,  amorphous  body  of  Hin- 
duism which  surrounds  them  on  every  side,  and  which  has 
sucked  out  from  so  many  independent  movements  all  that 
was  distinctive  in  them.  So  the  Parsee  community  would  have 
become  merely  one  of  the  innumerable  Hindu  castes  or  sects, 
and  Zarathustra  would  simply  have  been  added,  as  one  more 
god,  to  the  thirty-three  million  deities  that  the  Indians  have 
already. 

It  is  encouraging  to  note  that  this  determination  of  long 
standing  to  keep  pure  the  blood  is  being  paralleled  to-day  by  a 
new  and  growing  desire  to  disseminate  a  deeper  knowledge  of 
the  religion  which  is  their  bond  of  union  and  their  great  dis- 
tinction. As  I  have  shown  above,  there  always  has  been  and 
there  is  still  far  too  little  effort  made  to  teach  the  children 
more  than  the  merest  outlines  of  the  religion.  And  all  the  more 
intelligent  Parsees  have  come  to  recognize  with  regret  both 
this  lack  of  religious  education,  the  accretion  of  various  Hindu 
superstitions  and  undesirable  customs,  and  in  general  the 
degenerate  condition  into  which  their  religion  has  been  lapsing 
for  many  centuries.  As  long  ago  as  1851  a  Religious  Reform 
Association  was  founded  whose  aim  was  "the  regeneration  of 
the  social  condition  of  the  Parsees  and  the  restoration  of  the 
Zoroastrian  religion  to  its  pristine  purity."  Ten  years  later  a 
movement  was  set  on  foot  for  the  advancement  of  Avesta 
scholarship  and  the  higher  education  of  Parsee  priests.  These 
movements  and  others  like  them  have  had  some  influence,  and 
a  yearly  conference  is  now  held  to  discuss  various  questions  of 
religious,  social,  and  educational  reform.^  About  ten  years  ago 
a  systematic  effort  at  religious  education  was  begun.  A  com- 
mission was  appointed  to  prepare  five  books  for  religious  in- 

1  For  the  facts  just  cited  I  am  indebted  to  Farquhar's  Modern  Religious 
Movements  (see  pp.  84-89,  and  also  345). 

338 


THE   PARSEES 

struction  in  the  vernacular.  These  books  were  soon  completed 
and  authorized,  one  of  them  being  the  Catechism  from  the 
English  edition  of  which  I  have  so  often  quoted.  These  books 
are  now  used  by  many  parents  in  the  instruction  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  in  most  Parsee  schools  a  special  hour  is  given  up  to 
their  study. 

In  the  face  of  these  various  reform  movements  the  conserv- 
atives, of  course,  have  not  been  idle.  Like  the  conservative 
Hindus,  they  have  identified  everything  old  with  the  national 
and  community  cause,  and  under  the  leadership  of  their  The- 
osophist  members  have  resisted  with  considerable  success  the 
advance  of  the  reformers.  In  spite  of  their  efforts,  however, 
modem  ideas  are  gradually  permeating  the  community,  and 
the  change  from  the  old  to  the  new  is  going  on  rapidly  enough 
to  keep  the  religion  in  touch  with  life,  and  slowly  enough  to 
insure  the  necessary  continuity  with  the  past.  The  more  edu- 
cated and  liberal  Parsees  see  in  the  old  forms  and  ceremonies 
only  customs  which  in  past  time  were  useful,  but  most  of  which 
must  undergo  gradual  modification  or  be  outgrown  altogether. 
The  great  fundamental  beliefs,  such  as  the  theistic  doctrine 
and  the  hope  of  the  endless  life,  they  regard  as  having  eternal 
value,  and  a  few  of  the  ancient  forms,  such  as  that  of  revering 
God  through  His  element  of  fire  as  a  symbol,  will,  in  their  opin- 
ion, always  be  found  useful  for  the  Parsee  community  and  will 
never  be  outgrown.  The  more  irrational  customs  and  the 
more  materialistic  beliefs  will  be  outgrown.  But  the  wiser 
liberals  can  wait  with  patience  for  their  departure,  knowing 
that  everything  cannot  happen  at  once,  and  that  all  healthy 
change  in  an  organism  like  religion  must  be  a  process  of  growth, 
not  of  revolution. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

FROM  the  far  northwest  on  the  borders  of  Afghanistan, 
to  Orissa  and  Madras  in  the  east  and  south,  India  is  cov- 
ered with  caves,  rock-cut  temples,  columns,  statues,  carvings 
that  come  from  a  religion  now  long  since  perished  from  the 
land.  It  is  over  a  thousand  years  since  Buddhism  died  out  of 
the  country  of  its  birth.  The  museum  for  it  has  been  substi- 
tuted for  the  temple,  and  the  archeologist  and  Pali  scholar 
have  taken  the  place  of  the  yellow-robed  monk  and  the  devout 
lay  follower  of  the  Blessed  One.  Yet  so  great  an  impression 
has  the  Buddha  made  upon  his  land  and  upon  the  minds  of  all 
students  of  Indian  reUgion  that  the  spell  of  his  personality 
still  hangs  over  those  regions  where  he  lived  and  taught,  and 
most  of  us  can  visit  only  with  a  very  deep  and  genuine  rever- 
ence those  few  well-authenticated  spots  where  we  know  his 
"lotus  feet"  once  trod.  Most  sacred,  and  at  the  same  time 
most  well  authenticated  and  most  beautiful,  of  all  these  spots 
is  Buddh  Gaya.  Its  great  temple,  to  be  sure,  has  been  rebuilt 
and  considerably  changed  since  ancient  times  by  the  Nepalese, 
and  the  place  as  a  whole  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Hindus.  Yet 
with  native  reverence  for  all  that  others  revere,  its  guardians 
both  respect  and  honor  the  temple;  and  it  is  surrounded  by  a 
garden  in  which  all  manner  of  fresh  flowers  clamber  over  all 
manner  of  half-ruined  statues  and  ancient  stupas,  so  that  the 
whole  forms  a  combination  of  loving  care  and  picturesque  de- 
cay unsurpassed  in  loveliness  and  beauty  by  anything  in  India. 
And  over  the  whole  place  rests  the  spirit  of  the  Teacher;  so 
that  I  for  one  was  not  ashamed  to  follow  the  little  band  of 
Nepalese  and  Thibetan  pilgrims  in  their  circumambulation  of 
the  great  tower  and  to  pause  and  do  a  little  puja  of  my  own 
under  the  Bo  tree  which  marks  the  spot  where  illumination 
came  to  him  who  was  to  be  the  "Light  of  Asia." 

In  fact  I  am  sure  that  if  the  Buddha  could  have  returned 
and  watched  us  that  morning,  he  would  have  preferred  my 
340 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

homage  to  that  of  the  Himalayan  pilgrims  who  bore  his  name. 
He  who  came  to  destroy  behef  in  the  efficacy  of  outer  forms 
could  have  marked  only  with  deep  disappointment  and  sorrow 
the  fastening  of  gold  leaf  upon  the  temple's  stones  in  his  name, 
the  mumbling  of  mystic  texts  and  the  swinging  of  prayer 
wheels,  which  were  the  principal  occupations  of  these  pilgrims. 
And  if  he  could  have  followed  them  back  to  their  mountain 
homes  he  would  probably  have  exclaimed  that  the  time  was 
ripe  for  a  new  Buddha  to  appear  on  earth,  for  scarcely  a  token 
of  his  teaching  would  he  have  found. 

It  was  not  my  good  fortune  to  follow  these  pilgrims  any  far- 
ther toward  their  Thibetan  homes  than  Darjeeling;  but  in  and 
around  Darjeeling  one  can  get  a  very  good  idea  of  Thibetan 
and  Nepalese  Buddhism.  Halfway  down  the  slope  between 
Darjeehng  and  the  valley  on  the  east  is  a  Buddhist  temple 
of  the  Thibetan  type.  On  the  outer  wall,  on  each  side  of  the 
entrance,  is  a  line  of  five  or  six  "prayer  wheels"  or  prayer  cyl- 
inders, each  about  two  feet  high  and  covered  with  sacred  texts. 
The  recitation  of  these  texts  or  mantras  is  supposed  to  keep 
off  the  evil  sphits  which  abound  wherever  the  Lamaistic  type 
of  Buddhism  is  known,  and  the  spinning  of  one  of  these  cylin- 
ders produces  the  same  miraculous  result.  One  can  set  all  twelve 
revolving  at  once  —  and  the  effect  on  the  spirit  world  is  pre- 
sumably considerable.  In  the  porch  of  the  temple  is  another 
prayer  wheel,  much  larger  and  apparently  much  more  impor- 
tant and  official  than  those  without.  It  is  six  feet  high  and 
bears  several  rows  of  inscribed  texts.  The  axis  of  the  cylinder 
is  continued  by  an  iron  rod  on  which  it  rests,  and  this  before 
reaching  the  floor  is  bent  outward  and  then  back  in  such  a 
fashion  that  by  pulling  a  rope  attached  to  the  bend  the  cylinder 
can  be  easily  revolved.  On  the  top  of  the  cylinder  is  an  iron 
projection  so  placed  that  in  each  revolution  it  will  hit  against 
two  bells  suspended  from  the  ceiling  directly  above  the  cylin- 
der. When  we  entered  the  temple  —  and  in  fact  throughout 
our  visit  —  a  boy,  seated  on  the  floor  in  front  of  the  cyHnder, 
was  occupied  pulling  the  rope  and  thus  revolving  the  wheel. 
Apparently  he  was  praying  for  the  whole  community  —  and 
by  the  hour.  Thus  do  the  Northern  Buddhists  "pray  without 
ceasing." 

341 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

At  the  farther  end  of  the  inner  room  of  the  temple  were  three 
seated  Buddhas,  with  a  row  of  various  kinds  of  offerings  before 
them.  The  central  one  of  these  images  represented  "the  great 
Buddha"  — which  is  not  Gautama  but  Gautama's  heavenly 
essence,  of  which  the  historical  Gautama  was  only  an  ap- 
pearance. Gautama  himself  was  represented  by  the  humbler 
figure  on  the  left;  while  to  the  right  was  Gautama's  reflex  or 
Bodhisattva.  For  Himalayan  Buddhism  has  not  only  made  the 
Buddha  into  a  god;  it  has  been  unsatisfied  with  this  and  has 
invented  some  twenty-eight  Buddhas,  made  each  of  these  into 
a  Trinity,  and  deified  all  the  members  of  each.  Quite  consist- 
ently it  has  also  transformed  its  monks  into  priests  and  en- 
dowed them  with  all  manner  of  powers,  and  in  place  of  simple 
contemplation  of  the  Blessed  One  and  his  Doctrine,  it  has  in- 
vented magical  mantras  by  means  of  which  one  may  avoid 
the  hordes  of  dangerous  devils  to  which  reference  has  ah-eady 
been  made.  One  may  use  these  formulae  in  various  ways  — 
repeat  them,  write  them  out  on  a  prayer  wheel  and  revolve  it, 
wear  them  in  a  little  case  and  carry  it  suspended  round  the 
neck,  swallow  them,  or  reflect  them  in  a  mirror,  wash  the  mir- 
ror, and  drink  the  water  it  was  washed  in,i  etc.,  etc.  The  fa- 
vorite of  these  charms  is  the  famous  "Om!  mani  padmi,  hum!" 
—  which  means  (so  far  as  it  means  anything)  "Om!  the  Jewel 
of  the  Lotus  Flower!  Hum!"  In  all  the  region  round  Darjeel- 
ing  one  meets  women  and  men  wandering  through  village 
streets  or  along  country  roads,  fingering  their  rosaries  of  one 
hundred  and  eight  beads  and  murmuring,  ''Om  meni  pemi 
hum/''  Little  hand  prayer  wheels  are  almost  as  common  as 
rosaries  —  brass  cylinders  containing  texts  and  revolved  on  a 
stick.  I  watched  carefully  two  women  in  the  streets  of  Dar- 
jeeling,  one  of  whom  was  revolving  a  prayer  wheel  of  this  de- 
scription.  Much  of  the  time  she  was  talking  eagerly  with  her 

1  Methods  of  this  sort  are  not  confined  to  Thibet.  In  southern  and  cen- 
tral Italy,  including  Rome,  pictures  of  the  Virgin  printed  on  very  thin  tissue 
paper  may  be  procured,  which  are  useful  in  curing  headaches  and  other 
slight  ailments.  The  method  of  application  is  quite  Thibetan:  the  paper  is 
soaked  in  a  glass  of  water  till  it  has  in  part  gone  to  pieces,  and  then  the 
water  with  the  fragments  of  paper  is  swallowed.  The  use  of  these  miraculous 
papers  is  not  confined  to  the  lower  classes,  but  is  to  be  met  with  in  some  of 
the  best  families. 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

companion  and  when  not  talking  she  was  looking  into  the 
shops  that  they  passed;  but  all  the  time  she  kept  the  wheel 
going.  Occasionally  they  would  enter  some  shop  and  inquire 
prices  and  haggle  over  bargains  with  the  shopkeeper;  but  the 
wheel  never  stopped.  Finally,  having  completed  her  morning 
devotions,  she  handed  the  wheel  to  her  friend,  who  then  took 
her  turn  at  it.  I  could  see  no  sign  of  what  we  should  call  real 
prayer  or  devotion  in  either  of  them  or  in  any  of  the  Himalayan 
Buddhists  whom  I  met.  Buddhism  to  them  (so  far  as  I  could 
judge  on  a  very  superficial  acquaintance)  seemed  to  be  merely 
a  way  of  acquiring  supernatural  "merit"  by  external  mechani- 
cal devices. 

Far  dlflferent  is  the  impression  which  one  gets  on  his  first 
superficial  acquaintance  with  Burmese  and  Ceylonese  Bud- 
dhism. And  the  contrast  between  it  and  the  lower  forms  of  Hin- 
duism is  quite  as  marked.  When  the  traveler  turns  his  back 
upon  India  and  steams  up  the  Rangoon  River,  he  finds  great 
forests  and  green  fields  about  him  instead  of  the  parched  and 
dusty  plains  to  which  he  has  become  accustomed;  and  when  he 
lands  and  begins  to  watch  the  Burmese  people  at  their  devo- 
tions he  feels  that  spiritually  as  well  as  physically  he  is  in  a 
new  land  and  is  breathing  a  new  atmosphere.  In  place  of  the 
closed  temple  with  its  mysterious  inner  shrine,  its  lingam  and 
Ganesh,  its  continual  wash  of  dirty  water,  and  its  fat  priest 
keeping  out  all  but  Hindus  and  extorting  unwilling  money 
from  poor  pilgrims,  —  instead  of  this  one  finds  the  white  or 
golden  pagoda,  open  on  all  sides  to  the  sky,  accessible  to 
every  one  (with  or  without  shoes),  and  guarded  by  no  priest; 
and  instead  of  the  lingam  or  the  hideous  Hanuman,  the  digni- 
fied image  of  the  calm  Buddha.  I  think  that  travel  has  few 
experiences  to  give  in  any  part  of  the  world  more  striking  and 
memorable  than  one's  first  impression  of  the  Shway  Dagon 
Pagoda  in  Rangoon.  The  pagoda  stands  upon  a  lofty  artificial 
mound,  and  mound  and  pagoda  together  are  as  high  as  St. 
Paul's  in  London.  There  are  approaches  to  the  pagoda  at  each 
of  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  —  long  and  gentle  stairways 
climbing  by  an  easy  ascent  from  the  foot  to  the  top  of  the 
mound,  between  continuous  lines  of  booths  where  good-natured 
Burmese  and  pretty  Burmese  girls,  in  silks  of  many  a  hue  and 

343 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

all  smoking  long  cheroots,  stand  waiting  to  sell  you  candles 
or  gongs  or  incense  or  paper  flags  or  flowers  of  varied  kinds 
and  colors  for  your  use  in  paying  homage  to  the  memory  of 
the  Master  to  whose  glory  the  pagoda  was  erected.  When  you 
emerge  from  this  sacred  bazaar  at  the  top  of  the  steps,  you  find 
yourself  on  a  platform  in  the  midst  of  which  rises  the  great 
pagoda,  quite  covered  with  gold  leaf  and  gleaming  in  the  sun, 
and  surrounded  by  a  forest  of  smaller  pagodas  and  shrines  of 
varied  forms,  each  containing  a  statue  of  the  Buddha  and  a 
profusion  of  tropical  flowers,  while  palm  trees  wave  their 
stately  branches  overhead  against  the  blue  Burmese  sky,  and 
thousands  of  little  tinkly  bells  that  circle  the  pagoda  tops 
quiver  in  endless  chorus  as  the  soft  breeze  touches  them  with 
its  unfailing  caress.  In  every  corner  of  the  great  platform  and 
before  each  shrine  are  worshipers  —  here  one  or  two,  there  a 
family  or  a  little  group  —  kneeling  in  prayer  and  presenting 
offerings  of  flowers  and  of  lighted  candles  before  some  image 
of  the  founder  of  their  faith.  No  priests,  no  supervision,  no 
fees,  no  concerted  and  systematized  worship.  Here,  you  feel, 
is  the  religion  of  the  individual.  And  though  you  may  miss  the 
communion  of  saints  and  the  congregational  singing,  you  can 
hardly  go  away  from  the  pagoda  without  recognizing  that  you 
have  been  in  an  unmistakably  religious  atmosphere. 

What  is  true  of  the  Shway  Dagon  will  hold  for  thousands  of 
pagodas  small  and  large  in  various  parts  of  Burma,  —  for  the 
great  Shway  Maw  Daw  at  Pegu,  the  sacred  Arackan  Pagoda 
at  Mandalay,  the  Shway  San  Daw  at  Prome  (most  beautiful 
of  all  Burmese  buildings),  and  for  many  a  small  pagoda  quite 
unknown  to  fame  on  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Irrawaddy.  Every- 
where the  same  unmistakable  reverence  to  the  memory  of  the 
Buddha,  the  same  direct,  individual  expression  of  devotion 
with  no  mediating  priest,  the  same  obvious  gain  of  courage  and 
poise  and  peace  as  a  result  of  the  prayer. 

When  one  first  visits  a  Burmese  pagoda  —  especially  if  he 
has  been  reading  Fielding  Hall  —  he  is  likely  to  see  only  the 
beauty  of  the  worship  and  to  come  away  with  unmixed  admira- 
tion for  the  Burmese  and  their  religion.  A  better  acquaintance 
with  their  worship,  however,  will  make  one  more  critical. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  externalism  in  their  religion.   I  do  not 

344 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

agree  with  the  missionary  who  told  me  it  was  all  external;  but 
it  is  quite  possible  that  if  I  knew  as  much  about  the  matter  as 
she  does  I  might  agree  with  her.  But  though  I  believe  that 
there  is  more  than  mere  externalism  in  the  worship  of  the  Bur- 
mese, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  large  part  of  it  is  merely 
that.  Many  Buddhists  themselves  have  told  me  this.  The 
"prayers"  said  at  the  pagodas  are  mostly  formulae  learned  by 
heart,  some  in  Burmese,  some  in  Pali,  and  the  Pali  ones  are 
often  quite  meaningless  to  the  worshiper.  Moreover,  the  men- 
tal attitude  of  the  worshiper  is  sometimes  very  close  to  idola- 
try. A  Buddhist  layman  told  me  that  in  his  opinion  a  large 
number  of  the  ignorant  people  really  worshiped  the  stone  image 
before  them;  and  one  intelligent  young  man  assured  me  that 
many  Buddhists  prayed  to  the  pagoda  itself  —  that  he  had 
always  done  so  as  a  boy  and  that  his  mother  did  so  still.  Yet 
for  all  this,  Buddhist  worship  in  Burma  never  loses  its  simplic- 
ity' and  beauty,  its  dignity  and  reverence.  I  remember  a  group 
of  a  dozen  nuns,  kneeling  before  the  great  image  in  the  Arackan 
Pagoda  at  Mandalay.  All  of  them  had  shaven  heads,  some  of 
them  were  old  and  some  infirm.  They  had  come  apparently 
from  the  convent  across  the  river  to  lay  their  little  offerings  of 
flowers  before  the  feet  of  the  Blessed  One  and  to  acquire  what 
merit  they  might  by  the  repetition  of  various  verses  in  this 
most  sacred  shrine.  They  may  not  have  understood  the  words 
they  used,  and  for  aught  I  know  they  regarded  the  ancient 
image  before  them  as  having  some  miraculous  power  of  its 
own.  Only  they  could  tell.  But  there  was  no  mistaking  the 
devotion  and  reverence  that  was  in  their  hearts  and  that  shone 
from  their  faces. 

The  most  important  and  commonly  repeated  of  the  ' '  prayers ' ' 
or  formulae  of  praise  used  by  Buddhists  is  the  "Refuge,"  which, 
of  course,  is  always  repeated  in  Pali.  Its  meaning  is  as  follows:  — 

I  take  refuge  in  the  Buddha. 
I  take  refuge  in  the  Law. 
I  take  refuge  in  the  Order. 
A  second  time  I  take  refuge  in  the  Buddha. 
A  second  time  I  take  refuge  in  the  Law. 
A  second  time  I  take  refuge  in  the  Order. 
A  third  time  I  take  refuge  in  the  Buddha. 
A  third  time  I  take  refuge  in  the  Law. 
A  third  time  I  take  refuge  in  the  Order. 

345 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

The  Ten  Moral  Precepts  are  also  learned  by  all  and  often 
recited ;  as  are  also  the  list  of  the  thirty-two  parts  of  the  body, 
—  both  these  in  Pali.  Besides  these  there  are  several  other 
prayers  which  are  more  or  less  popular  and  are  often  repeated 
at  the  pagodas.  One  of  the  commonest  of  them  is  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"Awgatha,  Awgatha,  I  worship  with  the  body,  with  the 
mouth,  and  with  the  mind,  with  these  three  'kans.'  The  first, 
the  second,  the  third;  once,  twice,  until  three  times.  The  Lord, 
the  precious  one;  the  Law,  the  precious  one;  the  Assembly,  the 
precious  one —  these  three  precious  things.  I,  the  worshiper, 
most  humbly,  with  fervid  zeal,  with  clasped  hands,  pay  rever- 
ence, give  offerings,  and  with  pious  gaze  bow  me  down.  Thus 
by  this  worshiping  I  gain  merit  and  increase  in  earnestness  and 
purity  of  heart,  and  am  freed  from  the  Four  States  of  Punish- 
ment; from  the  Three  Evil  Things,  starvation,  plague,  and 
warfare;  from  the  Eight  Chambers  of  Hell;  and  from  the  Five 
Enemies.  And  at  the  end,  when  the  last  existence  has  come  for 
me,  may  I  pass  into  Nirvana."  ^ 

But  it  is  not  only  at  the  pagoda  that  the  people  worship. 
In  almost  every  home  there  is  a  little  shrine  —  a  picture  or 
an  image  of  the  Buddha,  and  below  it  a  shelf  on  which  simple 
offerings  are  daily  placed.  The  image  may  be  of  stone  and 
rudely  carved  or  of  solid  gold  and  carefully  executed.  The  pic- 
tures present  favorite  scenes  in  the  life  of  Gautama,  and  may 
be  bought  at  the  pagodas  or  obtained  gratis  from  the  Mellin's 
Food  Company  with  an  advertisement  thrown  in.  Flowers 
are  kept  before  the  image  or  picture,  and  in  one  house  I  re- 
member finding  on  the  shelf  that  served  as  a  shrine  two  bowls 
of  rice,  two  bowls  of  water,  two  saucers  with  two  bananas  on 
each,  and  two  jars  of  preserved  flowers.  Fresh  offerings  are 
brought  every  morning,  and  in  the  more  devout  homes  verses 
are  recited  before  the  Buddha  morning  and  night. 

But  the  Buddha  has  to  share  the  Burman's  worship  with 
the  "nats."  The  nats,  in  fact,  would  insist  that  this  is  only 
just,  for  compared  with  them  the  Buddha  is  a  newcomer  in 
the  land.  They  were  the  gods  of  Burma  long  before  Gautama 

»  Shway  Yoe  (J.  G.  Scott),  The  Burman:  His  Life  and  Notions  (London, 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  1882),  vol.  i,  p.  223. 

346 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

attained  to  Buddhahood  —  being  in  fact  the  ancient  nature  spir- 
its who  with  their  cousins  ruled  all  the  world  before  the  rise 
of  the  "historical"  religions.  The  Burman  loves  the  Buddha, 
but  fears  the  nats.  The  Buddha  he  knows  will  never  harm 
him,  and  they  may.  Hence  pragmatically  considered  the  nats 
are  quite  as  important  as  the  Buddha.  Mr.  Scott  (who  knows 
the  people  as  few  others  do)  writes  in  his  "Handbook  of  Bur- 
ma": "A  Burmese  gives  alms  to  the  monks,  worships  at  the 
pagodas  on  the  appointed  days,  and  repeats  the  doxologies 
which  he  has  learnt  at  school,  but  he  governs  his  life  and  ac- 
tions by  a  consideration  of  what  the  spirits  of  the  air,  the  for- 
ests, the  streams,  the  village,  or  the  house  may  do  if  they  are 
not  propitiated.  ...  In  his  everyday  life,  from  the  day  of  his 
birth  to  his  marriage,  to  his  old  age,  even  to  the  point  of  death, 
all  the  prominent  rites  and  forms  are  to  be  traced,  not  to  the 
[Buddhist]  Baskets  of  the  Law,  but  to  the  traditionary  whims 
and  fancies  handed  down  from  admittedly  Shamanistic  fore- 
fathers. If  misfortunes  fall  upon  him  he  makes  ofiferings  to 
the  evil  nats,  who,  he  thinks,  have  brought  it  upon  him.  When 
he  wants  to  build  a  house,  launch  a  boat,  plow  or  sow  his  fields, 
start  on  a  journey,  make  a  purchase,  marry  a  wife  himself  or 
marry  his  daughter  to  another,  bury  a  relative,  or  even  endow 
a  religious  foundation,  it  is  the  spirits  he  propitiates,  it  is 
the  nats  whom  he  consults.  His  Pali  prayers  and  invocations, 
lauds  and  doxologies,  avail  him  nothing  then,  and  are  not  even 
thought  of." 

The  nats  are  innumerable  and  are  ranged  in  a  hierarchy 
from  Thagya  Min,  the  King  Nat  (the  Vedic  Indra),  down  to 
the  nat  of  the  meanest  house.  Every  village  has  its  altar  to  the 
nats,  and  they  are  worshiped  both  in  the  homes  and  at  the 
pagodas.^  These  statements,  of  course,  hold  only  for  the  less 
intelligent  Burmese,  but  in  matters  of  superstition  nearly  all 
the  laymen  and  the  majority  of  the  monks  come  under  this 

1  A  well-informed  Burmese  Buddhist  writes  of  his  more  ignorant  fellow- 
countrymen:  "They  look  upon  Thagyamin  as  the  deus  ex  machina  in  human 
affairs,  and  in  time  of  distress  they  are  ready  to  invoke  the  aid  of  Paya  [the 
Adi-Buddha  or  Supreme  Buddha  of  Northern  Buddhism]  and  of  Thagya. 
The  common  expression  used  is,  'Paya-thagya-ke-ba,'  'May  Adi  Buddha 
and  Indra  save  me! '"  (Reported  by  Mr,  Saunders  in  the  Burma  Critic,  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1914.) 

347 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

heading.  By  questioning  the  monks  on  this  subject  one  gets 
an  interesting  variety  of  opinions.  Some  beUeve  in  the  nats 
as  thoroughly  as  the  laymen ;  a  few  deny  their  existence  alto- 
gether; and  one  monk  told  me  that  the  nats  were  of  two 
classes:  those  superior  to  men,  advanced  beings  on  the  road 
to  Nirvana;  and  evil  spirits  lower  than  man  who  do  not  really 
exist  and  whom  only  the  less  intelligent  believe  in. 

It  would  be  very  misleading  to  give  even  a  superficial  ac- 
count of  the  religion  of  the  Burmese  layman  and  say  nothing 
of  its  moral  teaching  and  influence.  One  of  the  first  things  — 
one  of  the  few  things  —  which  the  average  Burmese  boy  is 
taught  by  his  Buddhist  instructors  is  the  moral  law  of  the 
Great  Teacher  —  the  Five  Precepts.  These  are:  (i)  Not  to 
take  any  life ;  (2)  not  to  steal ;  (3)  to  avoid  sexual  incontinence ; 
(4)  not  to  lie,  deceive,  or  slander;  (5)  not  to  drink  intoxicating 
liquors.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  Precepts  have  a  very 
real  influence  on  the  life  of  the  Buddhists.  Even  the  most  casual 
visitor  must  be  struck  with  the  very  decided  admiration  that 
all  the  European  residents  have  for  the  Burmese.  As  every  one 
knows,  European  residents  in  the  East  are  not  given  to  magni- 
fying the  virtues  of  the  natives;  and  in  most  Oriental  lands 
the  foreign  resident  —  especially  the  business  man  —  sees 
little  good  in  the  "heathen  blacks."  Hence  it  speaks  well  for 
the  Burman  that  almost  all  Europeans  in  the  land  have  a  good 
word  —  and  usually  an  enthusiastic  word  —  for  him.  Every 
one  will  tell  you  that  the  Burmese  are  reliable  and  hospitable 
and  that  they  live  up  fairly  well  to  the  chief  moral  commands 
of  their  religion.  There  is  little  drunkenness  among  them  and 
that  little  is  vigorously  opposed  by  the  more  devoted  Bud- 
dhists. As  a  people  they  are  peaceable  and  honest  and  very 
kind,  —  kind  to  each  other,  to  the  stranger,  and  to  the  whole 
sentient  world.  Cruelty  to  animals  seems  to  the  Burmese 
Buddhist  pecuHarly  abhorrent.  And  little  acts  of  mercy  and 
thoughtfulness  —  such  as  building  a  booth  in  a  village  street 
and  keeping  it  supplied  with  a  jug  of  fresh  drinking-water  for 
the  benefit  of  travelers  —  are  very  often  met  with. 

To  be  sure  these  acts  of  kindness,  while  prompted  largely  by 
native  goodness  of  heart  and  by  the  example  and  teachings  of 
the  Buddha,  are  not  merely  altruistic  in  motive.    The  Burman 

348 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

wishes  well  to  others,  but  he  also  has  his  eye  on  his  next  in- 
carnation, and  he  knows  that  these  acts  pile  up  "merit"  for 
him  in  a  place  where  moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt  nor  thieves 
break  through  and  steal.  This  term  "merit"  means  to  the 
Buddhist  the  obtaining  of  material  benefits  (in  this  or  the 
next  life),  the  la>ang-up  of  a  good  character,  and  "the  satis- 
faction of  a  good  conscience"!  ^  Which  of  these  three  shall 
receive  the  most  emphasis  will,  of  course,  depend  upon  the 
individual.  In  each  case,  however,  merit  is  conceived  as  some- 
thing which  may  be  acquired  (in  greater  or  less  quantity),  and 
deposited  for  use  in  another  life.  The  prevalence  of  this  view 
is  largely  due  to  that  most  popular  of  Buddhist  books,  the 
Jatakas. 

Good  acts,  then,  are  a  kind  of  insurance  premium,  the  policy 
being  payable  in  the  next  life.  And  while  good  acts  pay  well, 
nothing  is  quite  so  profitable  as  the  building  or  gilding  of  a 
pagoda.  One  who  has  never  been  in  Burma  can  with  difficulty 
form  any  conception  of  the  extent  to  which  pagoda  building 
has  been  carried  and  still  is  carried  in  that  surprising  land.  As 
one  travels  on  the  railway,  sails  up  the  Irrawaddy,  or  walks  along 
a  countr>^  road,  he  is  ever  coming  upon  pagodas  —  some  enor- 
mous, some  tiny,  some  old  and  crumbling,  surrendering  their 
bell-shaped  form  as  they  lapse  back  into  the  plain  or  lose  them- 
selves in  the  wild  growth  of  the  jungle,  some  finished  but  yes- 
terday and  not  yet  gilded.  At  Pagan  on  the  Irrawaddy  there 
are  upwards  of  ten  thousand  of  them  —  and  nearly  all  deserted. 
As  more  merit  accrues  through  building  a  new  pagoda  than 
through  restoring  an  old  one  (unless  the  old  one  be  peculiarly 
sacred),  the  process  of  filling  the  land  with  more  and  more  pa- 
godas continues  at  a  startling  rate.  Most  of  the  smaller  pagodas 
are  built  by  individuals,  while  the  larger  ones  are  put  up  —  or 
if  old  are  regilded  —  by  public  subscription.  At  present  a 
rather  unusual  wave  of  pagoda  enthusiasm  is  passing  over 
Burma.  Nearly  all  the  great  pagodas  of  the  land  are  being 
regilded,  and  at  Mandalay,  the  religious  center,  the  entire 
hill  that  commands  the  tovvTi  is  being  covered  with  statues, 
pagodas,  and  other  religious  buildings.  One  of  these  pagodas  is 

^  Saunder's  Questionnaire,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Buddhist  Ideals, 
(Madras,  Christian  Literature  Society,  1912). 

349 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

being  built  for  the  reception  of  the  ashes  of  the  Buddha  re- 
cently found  by  Dr.  Spooner  near  Peshawar;  and  as  I  have 
said,  the  entire  hill  is  being  covered  with  pagodas  of  various 
sizes,  shaded  stairways  and  passages  for  the  accommodation 
of  pilgrims,  rest-halls,  and  mammoth  Buddha  images.  The 
whole  work  is  in  the  hands  of  a  rather  remarkable  monk  named 
U  Khanthi,  and  known  as  "the  Hermit  of  Mandalay  Hill." 
All  the  funds  for  the  new  pagoda  and  the  adornment  of  the  hill 
go  into  his  hands  and  are  expended  at  his  discretion,  no  one 
for  a  moment  doubting  his  honesty  or  questioning  his  good 
taste  and  ability.  He  is  a  man  of  forty  or  fifty  with  a  fine  face 
and  a  quiet  and  commanding  manner.  We  went  to  see  him 
while  in  Mandalay  and  found  him  in  the  great  hall  at  the  top 
of  the  hill  where  he  receives  visitors.  He  greeted  us  most  cor- 
dially, and  we  had  a  short  interview  which  was  broken  into  by 
the  arrival  of  a  band  of  pilgrims  from  the  Shan  States  on  the 
borders  of  China.  The  hermit  made  his  apologies  to  us  and 
seated  himself  upon  what  might  be  called  his  ofificial  mat  in 
front  of  a  blue  curtain  in  the  center  of  the  hall,  while  the  Shans, 
in  their  strange  costumes,  squatted  reverently  before  him. 
He  first  read  to  them  a  few  lines  from  a  sacred  text  and  then 
all  the  pilgrims  handed  up  to  him,  for  his  signature,  certifi- 
cates showing  that  they  had  visited  Mandalay  Hill  and  seen 
its  famous  hermit.  Nearly  all  these  Shans,  we  were  told, 
"owned"  pagodas  of  their  own  at  home,  and  they  had  come 
here  to  acquire  merit  by  the  pilgrimage  and  by  the  offerings 
for  the  hermit  and  his  pious  work.  The  offerings  were  now 
brought  forth  from  great  bags,  and  were  piled  high  on  the 
trays,  provided  by  the  hermit's  servants,  —  rice,  fruits,  can- 
dles, cheroots  black  and  white,  and  other  worldly  and  religious 
dainties.  These  were  for  the  hermit's  own  consumption  (or 
for  his  personal  charity  if  he  preferred  to  give  them  away), 
and  were  but  the  beginning  of  the  merit-acquisition;  for  now 
followed  the  real  business  of  the  day.  Other  trays  were  brought 
out  by  the  servants,  and  these  the  pilgrims  loaded  with  silver 
coins,  the  total  contribution  aggregating  several  hundred  ru- 
pees. This  money,  of  course,  was  for  the  hermit  to  use  in  his 
buildings  on  the  hill.  The  audience  ended  with  a  rain-making 
ceremony.  A  woman  poured  water,  under  the  hermit's  direc- 
350 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

tions,  into  several  bowls  while  he  repeated  texts.  This  process, 
two  of  his  disciples  told  us,  if  carried  out  carefully  by  the  Shans 
on  their  return  home  would  enable  them  to  get  a  shower  when- 
ever needed. 

This  Shan  delegation  was  interesting  to  me  as  indicating 
some  of  the  strange  constituents  that  go  to  make  up  the  Bud- 
dhism of  the  modern  Burman.  And,  as  the  reader  will  have 
seen  from  the  above  description,  the  superstitious  side  of  mod- 
ern Buddhism  is  not  confined  to  the  laity.  Most  of  the  monks 
are  quite  as  superstitious  as  the  laymen.  They  have,  of  course, 
a  wider  knowledge  of  Buddhism,  but  their  Buddhistic  learn- 
ing consists  as  a  rule  in  committing  to  memor>'  certain  of  the 
sacred  texts;  and  they  have  little  idea  and  apparently  little 
care  as  to  what  the  real  meaning  of  these  texts  may  be.  Thus 
two  disciples  of  the  Mandalay  hermit  told  me  that  Buddha 
was  in  Nirvana  and  entirely  uninfluenced  by  prayers  and 
offerings,  and  immediately  after  added  that  Buddha  was  their 
God,  that  He  heard  and  answered  prayers,  and  was  influenced 
and  pleased  by  the  offerings  that  were  given  Him.  I  could  not 
make  them  see  their  inconsistency,  and  it  was  evident  that  they 
had  never  done  any  thinking  on  the  present  status  of  Buddha 
and  very  little  on  any  other  subject  connected  with  their  re- 
ligion. I  was  told  that  there  were  not  five  monks  in  Rangoon 
who  could  answer  the  questions  I  asked,  and  I  am  sure  that 
a  large  number  of  those  I  talked  with  would  infallibly  have 
"flunked"  the  examination  I  give  my  college  students  on  the 
teachings  of  the  Buddha.  Of  course  not  all  the  Buddhist 
monks  are  so  ignorant.  In  Mandalay  especially  there  are  many 
\ery  learned  and  intelligent  pongyis  ^  who  are  deep  students  of 
the  Pali  books  and  real  thinkers  as  to  their  meaning.  But  on 
the  whole  the  contrast  between  the  Indians  and  the  Burmese  in 
learning  and  intelligence  is  very  striking.  In  India  philosophical 
knowledge  and  real  thought  are  not  uncommonly  met  with;  in 
Burma  they  are  very  rare. 

The  life  of  the  monks  is,  on  the  whole,  rather  pleasant.  They 
live  together,  in  smaller  or  larger  groups,  in  monastery  build- 
ings which  are  always  comfortable,  airy,  and  picturesque,  and 
sometimes  ver^'  beautiful.  The  larger  monasteries  in  Rangoon 
»  Monks  who  have  passed  ten  years  in  the  order. 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  especially  in  Mandalay  are  genuine  works  of  art.  They 
are  built  of  teak-wood,  elaborately  carved,  and  the  interior  is 
in  part  painted  a  rich  red,  in  part  gilded.  In  each  of  these  mon- 
asteries there  is  a  number  of  small  sleeping-rooms  and  one 
large  central  hall  with  its  marble  or  alabaster  or  brass  image 
of  the  Buddha,  and  its  invariable  accompaniment  of  candles 
and  fresh  flowers.  There  are  also  sleeping-mats  for  the  monks, 
a  library  of  printed  books  and  manuscripts  and  beautifully 
executed  lacquer  texts,  and  many  votive  offerings  in  the  form 
of  banners  and  Buddhas,  seated,  recumbent,  and  standing. 
It  is  in  this  hall  that  visitors  are  received,  the  younger  monks 
instructed  by  the  abbot,  and  the  morning  and  evening  worship 
performed  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  One.  The  number  of  the 
monks  in  a  monastery  varies  considerably.  In  the  smaller  ones 
there  may  be  only  two  or  three,  while  in  the  Masoyein  Talk  or 
group  of  monasteries  (at  Mandalay)  there  are  altogether  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  pongyis  and  a  number  of  novices. 
Nearly  all  Buddhist  boys  in  Burma  go  for  at  least  part  of  their 
education  to  the  monastery  school,  and  most  of  them  at  some 
period  of  their  life  become  novices  and  put  on  the  yellow  robe 
for  a  short  time.  If  a  young  man  decides  to  become  a  monk 
and  join  the  order  permanently,  he  is  admitted  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  after  passing  an  examination  and  going  through  a  cer- 
tain ceremony.  A  monk  who  has  served  for  ten  years  has  the 
title  of  pong\'i  and  the  right  to  preside  as  abbot  at  a  monastery 
of  his  own. 

On  entering  the  order  the  monk  takes,  in  addition  to  the  five 
vows  of  the  layman,  the  following  five:  (6)  Not  to  eat  any 
solid  food  after  midday;  (7)  to  abstain  from  dancing,  singing, 
plays,  and  all  worldly  and  distracting  amusements;  (8)  to  ab- 
stain from  the  use  of  ornaments  and  perfumes  and  all  that 
tends  to  vanity;  (9)  to  abandon  the  use  of  high  and  luxurious 
beds  and  seats  and  to  sleep  on  a  hard  low  couch;  (10)  to  possess 
no  money,  but  live  always  in  voluntary  poverty. 

The  monks  rise  in  the  morning  about  five-thirty,  and  after 
their  toilet  the  whole  monastery  assembles  before  the  image 
of  the  Buddha,  where  they  bow  and  pledge  afresh  to  keep  the 
vows  that  day.  The  pupils  and  novices  now  sweep  out  the 
monastery,  fetch  water,  etc.,  while  the  younger  monks  gather 

352 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

flowers  and  offer  them  before  the  Buddha,  and  the  older  ones 
(the  pongyis  proper)  meditate.  After  a  very  sUght  breakfast 
the  boys  repeat  their  lessons,  and  then  they  all  start  out  with 
begging-bowls  through  the  streets  to  collect  the  food  for  their 
one  genuine  meal.  In  every  Burmese  village  one  comes  upon 
this  line  of  yellow-robed  figures  early  in  the  morning  hours, 
marching  silently  through  the  streets  in  Indian  file,  a  monk  at 
the  head  followed  by  a  line  of  diminutive  boys  each  carrying 
an  enormous  black  lacquer  bowl.  Arrived  in  front  of  the  house 
of  some  layman  whose  generosity  and  desire  for  merit  is  well 
known,  the  line  halts  and  silently  waits  until  the  lady  of  the 
house  or  a  servant  comes  out  and  empties  a  quantity  of  steam- 
ing rice  into  the  big  bowl  and  pours  some  curry  into  one  of  the 
smaller  dishes  carried  in  the  bowl  above  the  rice.  The  monk 
meanwhile  looks  in  the  other  direction  and  tries  to  appear 
unconscious.  The  donation  offered,  the  line  moves  on.  In 
some  of  the  larger  monasteries  the  abbot  does  not  accompany 
the  others  in  their  begging  expedition,  but  spends  this  hour 
in  reading  or  instructing  some  of  the  older  monks.  By  eleven 
the  boys  and  the  younger  monks  have  returned  from  their 
excursion  with  well-filled  bowls;  the  rice  is  then  put  together, 
a  dish  of  it  and  the  best  of  the  curry  is  sent  to  the  abbot,  and 
they  all  have  a  solid  meal  —  which  in  all  conscience  they  need, 
as  they  are  to  have  no  more  for  the  whole  day.  After  this  the 
monks  wash  out  their  bowls,  intone  praises  to  the  Buddha,  and 
all  have  a  good  nap,  while  the  boys  study  their  lessons.  After 
nap  time  the  lessons  are  heard  and  some  of  the  monks  read  and 
meditate,  and  at  four  o'clock  all  are  free  to  go  to  some  pagoda 
or  spend  their  time  as  they  like.  At  six  they  are  back  again  in 
the  monastery,  the  boys  and  novices  repeat  what  they  have 
learned  during  the  day,  and  the  evening  devotions  begin.  These 
consist  in  what  may  be  called  a  "general  confession,"  namely, 
the  recitation  of  a  formula  which  amounts  to  the  prayer,  "If 
I  have  sinned  this  day  may  I  be  forgiven!"  Other  formulae 
of  prayers  are  recited  before  the  Buddha  image,  the  abbot 
preaches  a  short  sermon,  the  monks  bow  three  times  before 
him  and  before  the  Buddha,  and  the  day  is  done. 

The  meditation  of  the  monks  to  which  reference  has  been 
made  above  has  as  its  aim  the  control  of  the  passions  and  the 

353 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

cultivation  of  kindness.  The  monk  should  tell  over  upon  his 
beads  the  thirty-two  constituents  of  the  body  or  the  nine  exits 
and  excrements  of  the  body,  and  should  thereby  remind  him- 
self of  the  transitoriness  of  life  and  the  disgusting  nature  of 
bodily  enjoyments.^  He  should  also  seek  to  cultivate  good- 
will to  every  living  being  that  his  eyes  light  upon.  If,  for  in- 
stance, he  sees  a  sick  dog,  he  should  say  to  himself,  not  "How 
disgusting!"  but  rather,  "What  can  I  do  to  help  this  poor 
creature?"  Twice  a  month  the  monks  assemble  to  hear  read 
the  Pati  Mokha,  or  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  rules  of 
the  order,  after  which  they  are  supposed  to  confess  any  breach 
of  the  rules  they  may  have  committed  since  the  last  reading. 
In  addition  to  these  efforts  for  their  own  advance  in  righteous- 
ness, some  of  the  monks  endeavor  to  help  the  laymen  also.  If 
invited  they  will  go  to  some  home  and  teach;  and  twice  a  month 
(at  new  and  full  moon)  they  read  the  Law  to  any  who  care  to 
hear.  On  the  whole,  the  monks  lead  a  fairly  moral  life.  Field- 
ing Hall,  who  has  had  thirty  years'  experience  in  Burma  as  a 
magistrate,  testifies  that  he  has  known  of  only  five  criminal 
cases  with  which  a  monk  was  connected,  and  three  of  these 
were  cases  of  rebellion.  The  laity  honor  them  and  their  influ- 
ence is  mildly  helpful,  though  hardly  so  superlatively  ideal  as 
readers  of  Fielding  Hall  might  suppose.  Harmless  they  are; 
and  they  would  injure  no  one  willingly,  not  even  a  spider.  Yet 
I  was  told  that  exceeding  few  of  them  would  go  far  out  of  their 
way  to  save  a  little  girl  from  a  life  of  shame.  That  is  her  own 
lookout,  they  would  say.  They  lead  "the  simple  Hfe,"  but 
hardly  the  "strenuous"  one.  I  asked  a  particularly  intelligent 
monk  in  Mandalay  why  he  had  chosen  to  be  a  pong>'i  and  his 
answer  was  significant.    "I  like  the  life,"  he  said.   Life  in  the 

1  There  are,  of  course,  other  common  subjects  of  meditation.  In  the 
Auguttara  Nikaya,  for  instance,  the  following  list  of  ten  is  recommended: 
(i)  The  Buddha;  (2)  Dharma  (the  Law);  (3)  Sangha  (the  Order);  (4)  the 
Precepts;  (5)  Charity;  (6)  the  Gods;  (7)  inhaled  and  exhaled  Breath;  (8) 
Death;  (9)  the  Thirty-two  Constituents  of  the  Body;  (10)  release  from  suf- 
fering. (Atthana  Vagga,  i,  xvi.)  In  the  early  days  of  Buddhism  the  monks 
carried  meditation  to  the  point  of  samadhi  —  a  state  of  auto-hypnosis;  but 
this  practice  has  long  since  been  given  up.  This  Yoga  practice  and  many  of 
the  subjects  of  meditation  were  taken  over  into  Buddhism  directly  from 
pre- Buddhistic  India,  and  have  no  relation  to  Gautama's  essential  thought. 
Cf.  for  instance,  the  sixth  and  seventh  subjects  of  the  list  just  given. 

354 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

monaster^'  is  one  of  scholarly  ease  —  or  just  ease.  It  may  offer 
also  an  opportunity*  for  occasional  usefulness  as  a  preacher  or 
teacher;  but  the  monk  is  exceedingly  rare  to  whom  the  desire 
for  helpfulness  is  the  chief  attraction.   They  like  the  life. 

The  Buddhism  of  Ceylon  is  ven,'  similar  to  that  of  Burma. 
WTiat  contrast  there  is  between  the  two  may  be  stated  in  gen- 
eral terms  by  sa>-ing  that  the  Ceylonese  are  less  devout  and 
more  learned  than  the  Burmans.  This  is  true  of  both  monks 
and  laymen.  On  entering  Ceylon  from  Burma  one  is  struck  by 
the  absence  of  pagodas  and  the  almost  entire  lack  of  worshipers 
at  the  shrines  except  on  poya  days.  In  place  of  the  pagoda, 
with  its  shrine  open  to  all  who  will  come,  is  substituted  the 
closed  vihara  or  temple  with  its  hidden  image  and  the  dagoha 
with  its  buried  relic.  These  temples  and  dagobas  are  extremely 
rare  in  comparison  with  the  pagodas  of  Burma,  so  profusely 
scattered  over  the  land.  Moreover,  they  are  to  be  found  as  a 
rule  only  within  monastery  enclosures,  and  the  temples  are 
regularly  locked  except  on  poya  days.  These  come  in  theory 
four  times  a  month,  practically  but  twice,  namely,  on  the  new 
and  full  moon.  On  these  two  days  one  sees  the  same  sort  of 
devotion  at  the  temples  on  the  part  of  the  people  that  one  may 
witness  almost  ever>'  day  at  a  Burmese  pagoda.  There  are  the 
same  recitation  of  sacred  texts  in  Pali  and  in  the  vernacular, 
the  same  reverence  and  prostrations,  the  same  offerings  of 
flowers  and  candles.  In  explanation  of  the  small  number  of 
worshipers  at  the  public  shrines  in  Ceylon,  moreover,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  climate  here  is  much  more  tr>-ing 
than  in  Burma,  and  that  the  devout  Buddhist  may  perfectly 
well  perform  his  devotions  in  the  coolness  of  his  o%\-n  home. 
Home  worship  is  much  the  same  in  Ceylon  as  in  Burma  and 
there  is  the  same  appeasement  of  spirits  good  and  bad.  There 
are,  to  be  sure,  no  nats  in  Ceylon,  but  their  place  is  taken  by 
the  devas  or  devatas  borrowed  from  Hindu  mythology.  The 
most  important  of  these  are  Sakara  (the  Vedic  Indra),  Brahma, 
Vishnu,  Ishwara,  and  Shiva.  Images  of  these  or  other  devatas 
are  to  be  found  in  the  vestibules  of  nearly  all  the  temples,  and 
sometimes  within  the  temples  themselves;  and  they  receive 
homage  and  offerings  only  after  the  Buddha.  Not  only  do  the 
monks  believe  in  these  devas;  Colonel  Olcott,  in  his  "Cate- 

355 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

chism,"  which  has  had  so  great  an  influence  in  Buddhist  reli- 
gious education,  gravely  teaches  that  there  are  three  kinds  of 
devas,  and  that  if  we  are  very  good  they  cannot  hurt  us,  but  if 
we  are  bad  we  had  best  watch  out.  Another  important  part  of 
Singhalese  religion  is  the  adoration  of  the  pipal  tree  {ficus  reli- 
giosa) .  In  a  monastery  at  Anuradhapura  still  stands  the  famous 
pipal  tree  brought  by  Sanghamitta,  the  daughter  of  King 
Ashoka,  to  Ceylon  about  240  B.C.,  a  scion  of  the  sacred 
"Bo  tree"  under  which  Gautama  received  enlightenment  at 
Buddh  Gaya.  A  descendant  of  this  greatest  treasure  of 
Anuradhapura  is  to  be  found  in  the  compound  of  almost  every 
large  vihara  in  the  island,  where,  on  poya  days,  it  receives 
nearly  as  much  homage  as  does  the  image  of  the  Buddha  him- 
self. But  it  is  not  only  these  monastery  trees  that  are  held 
sacred.  On  the  roadside  and  in  other  places  one  comes  upon 
pipal  trees,  large  or  small,  before  which  rude  altars  have  been 
erected  and  offerings  of  flags  and  flowers  strewn.  As  is  the  case 
with  so  many  other  religious  customs,  the  theory  back  of  this 
is  uncertain  and  unimportant.  Some  Buddhists  will  tell  you 
that  the  spirit  of  the  tree  is  being  worshiped;  others  that  the 
off"erings  are  presented  merely  as  a  sign  of  grateful  remem- 
brance that  the  pipal  tree  once  sheltered  the  Lord  Buddha. 
The  truth  is,  of  course,  that  the  theory  plays  but  a  small  part 
in  the  mind  of  the  worshiper.  One  adores  the  Bo  tree  because 
it  is  the  thing  to  do  —  and  because  one  thereby  acquires  merit. 
When  one  reads  of  the  devatas  in  Ceylon  and  the  nats  in 
Burma  and  the  tree-cult  in  both  countries,  one  is  inclined  to 
say.  How  Buddhism  has  degenerated  since  its  early  days! 
There  is  no  doubt  that  modem  Buddhism,  even  in  the  South, 
is  decidedly  impure;  but  the  truth  is  that  the  Buddhism  of 
the  people,  even  in  the  good  old  days  of  its  earliest  propaga- 
tion, has  always  been  impure.  To  see  what  early  Buddhism 
was  one  should  go,  not  to  the  Pitakas,  but  to  the  Buddhist 
carvings  from  Mathura,  Bharut,  Sanchi,  and  other  ancient 
centers  of  the  religion.  The  Mathura  reliefs,  from  the  sixth 
century  a.d.,  show  that  at  that  time  Buddhism  was  shockingly 
intermingled  with  Tantra  worship:  gay,  not  to  say  indecent, 
female  figures  are  more  prominent  in  the  sculptures  than  the 
figure  of  the  Buddha.  The  Bharut  Tope  (150  B.C.)  makes 
356 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

much  of  Sirima  Devata,  the  goddess  of  wealth,  and  other  fe- 
male figures  abound.  And  in  the  carvings  at  Sanchi,  perhaps 
the  earliest  of  all,  Saraswati  (the  wife  of  Brahma)  is  an  impor- 
tant figure,  and  almost  the  chief  object  of  representation  is  the 
adoration  of  the  sacred  tree.  Brahma  and  Vishnu  are  common 
figures  in  Buddhist  sculpture  all  over  the  northwest.  And  if 
one  goes  back  to  the  Pitakas  themselves  he  finds  no  such  pure 
philosophical  doctrine  as  Western  books  on  Buddhism  would 
often  have  one  believe.  The  whole  drama  of  Buddha's  life  is 
presented  on  a  background  of  Hindu  mythology-,  and  even  in 
the  teachings  of  Gautama  the  old  gods  are  referred  to  as  real 
beings,  quite  as  a  matter  of  course.  To  be  sure  the  gods  through- 
out early  Buddhism  are  always  represented  as  inferior  to  the 
Buddha;  but  so  are  they  also  in  the  Buddhism  of  Burma  and 
Ceylon. 

Ceylon,  like  Burma,  is  inhabited,  or  threatened,  by  devils 
who  play  their  usual  part  in  the  production  of  sickness  and 
other  human  ills.  In  both  Burma  and  Ceylon  astrology  is 
one  of  the  most  important  and  lucrative  of  the  arts,  and  one 
frequently  comes  upon  advertisements  like  the  following, 
"Horoscopes  dra\sTi  telling  all  future  events,"  "Marks  on  the 
body  reveal  all  events,  good  and  bad."  The  moral  teachings 
of  Buddhism  are,  of  course,  the  same  in  Ceylon  as  in  Burma, 
but  on  the  whole  they  seem  to  have  less  effect.  At  any  rate, 
the  Ceylonese  are  not  so  noted  for  their  kindness  to  animals 
as  are  the  Burmese.  Yet  I  think  they  would  not  suffer 
greatly  in  comparison  with  us  Westerners.  And  certainly 
their  religion  lends  all  its  force  to  the  side  of  kindness  to- 
ward the  dumb  world.  This  in  fact  is  carried  to  an  extent 
which  to  us  would  often  seem  fantastic.  The  walls  of  many 
a  monastery  are  frescoed  (for  the  benefit  of  the  lay  \asitor) 
with  pictures  of  the  sufferings  in  hell  that  await  the  hunter 
and  him  who  kills  insects.  Copies  ton  asserts  that  an  injured 
man  might  lie  by  the  wayside  all  day  calling  for  help  and  no 
Buddhist  would  go  out  of  his  way  to  help  him;^  and  many 

^  Buddhism  in  Magadha  and  Ceylon  (second  edition,  Lxjndon,  Longmans, 
1908),  p.  285.  WTiile  this  assertion  seems  to  me  to  give  a  wrong  impression, 
if  taken  as  a  characterization  of  all  Singhalese  Buddhists,  I  do  not  doubt  that 
in  many  cases  it  would  apply.    Dr.   Copleston  had  years  of  experience  in 

357 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

missionaries  (reported  in  Mr.  Saunders's  Questionnaire)  insist 
that  most  Buddhists  consider  lying  a  smaller  sin  than  killing  a 
flea.  I  feel  ver>-  certain  that  the  former  of  these  statements  is 
mistaken  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  latter  exaggerated. 

The  better  class  of  monks  in  Ceylon  are,  as  I  have  said,  more 
learned  and  intelligent  than  those  in  Burma.  This  hardly  holds 
true,  however,  of  the  rank  and  file  —  for  certainly  in  both 
countries  these  are  ignorant  enough.  Twenty  years  ago  Dr. 
Bowles  Daly  made  an  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  monas- 
teries in  Ceylon  and  reports:  "There  are  about  nine  thousand 
monks ;  among  them  a  few  —  very  few  —  great  scholars ;  the 
majorit\-  are  illiterate,  and  some  to  avoid  labour,  seek  a  life  of 
indolence  sheltered  by  the  yellow  robes  of  the  priesthood; 
many  are  depraved.  There  are,  however,  some  examples  of 
personal  piety,  devotion,  and  self-denial,  which  would  be  an 
ornament  to  any  church."  ^ 

The  monks  in  Ceylon  are  less  active,  less  influential,  and 
more  reserved  than  those  in  Burma.  They  are  much  less  in 
evidence  in  public,  as  they  do  but  little  begging,  their  food  being 
taken  to  them  in  the  monasteries  by  pious  laymen.  Their 
monasteries  are  often,  characteristically,  farther  removed  from 
the  madding  crowd  than  is  usually  the  case  in  Burma  — 
tucked  away  on  some  hillside  or  in  the  heart  of  the  jungle.  It 
would  be  hard  to  find  more  ideal  retreats  for  the  contemplative 
life  than  are,  for  instance,  some  of  the  monasteries  near  Galle, 
in  the  midst  of  palm  groves  or  on  a  forest-covered  ridge,  or  the 
famous  Alut  \'ihara  at  Matale,  perched  on  the  top  of  its  iso- 
lated rock.  Fortunately  for  the  legs  of  the  little  boys,  the  mon- 
asteries are  not  the  schools  of  the  land  as  they  are  in  Burma. 
Most  boys  go  to  Government  or  private  schools,  and  it  is  not 

Ceylon  and  knew  of  what  he  spoke.  In  this  connection  another  quotation 
from  him  may  be  of  interest:  "If  it  is  asked,  to  begin  with,  whether  the 
Singhalese  are  evidently  and  unmistakably  influenced  in  their  lives  by  the 
religion  which  they  profess,  as  Mohammedans  for  instance  are,  the  answer 
must  be,  No;  except  in  the  matter  of  scrupulousness  about  taking  the  life 
of  animals.  In  other  matters,  whether  a  man's  conduct  were  good  or  bad,  he 
would  seldom  allege  religion  as  his  motive.  Religion  is  a  matter  of  obtain- 
ing merit  by  certain  offerings  and  attendances;  not,  in  ordinary  cases,  a 
matter  of  conduct."    {Op.  ciL,  p.  284.) 

^  Quoted  by  H.  Hackmann  in  his  Buddhism  as  a  Religion  (London, 
Probsthain,  1910),  p.  118. 

358 


THE  BUDDHISTS  OF  BURMA  AND  CEYLON 

the  custom  for  them,  as  it  is  for  the  Burmese,  to  take  for  a 
time  the  yellow  robe.  Still  the  order  as  a  whole  is  respected  and 
a  family  feels  honored  when  one  of  its  members  enters  the 
monkhood. 

An  interesting  combination  of  the  monk  and  the  layman  is 
the  upasaka.  This  word  originally  applied  to  all  laymen,  for 
all  were  supposed  to  take  upon  themselves  at  times  a  certain 
additional  training  which  ordinarily  obtained  only  for  the 
monks.  Not  many  do  this  to-day,  and  the  word  upasaka  now 
refers  to  particularly  devout  laymen  (more  often  laywomen) 
who  four  times  a  month  —  namely,  on  poya  days  —  observe 
the  monk's  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  vows  (given  above),  and 
go  daily  to  the  vihara  or  temple  with  offerings  to  the  Buddha 
and  to  the  devatas  and  gifts  to  the  monks  and  the  poor.  These 
upasakas  are  often  very  admirable  characters,  understand 
and  obey  the  spirit  of  helpfulness  that  animates  their  religion 
at  its  best,  and  give  up  much  of  their  time  to  deeds  of  real 
mercy  and  kindness. 

In  their  architecture,  their  costumes,  their  customs  the 
Singhalese  are  much  less  picturesque  than  are  the  Burmese; 
and  largely  for  this  reason  their  t\'pe  of  Buddhism  seems  to 
the  stranger  decidedly  less  attractive  than  does  the  Burmese 
t>-pe.  Their  closer  contact  with  Western  civilization  also  has 
not  been  exclusively  an  advantage.  And,  as  I  have  said,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  they  are  less  devout  in  their  religion  than  the 
Burmese.  But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  they  are 
a  bad  people  or  that  their  religion  is  without  influence.  The 
Singhalese  are  an  intelligent,  moral,  and  attractive  race,  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  owe  an  eternal  debt  of  grati- 
tude to  Prince  Mahinda,  who  first  brought  to  them  the  teach- 
ings of  India's  greatest  Teacher.  Unfortunately  neither  they 
nor  the  Burmese  have  kept  that  teaching  as  pure  as  they  might 
have  —  though  they  have  done  immeasurably  better  in  this 
respect  than  any  of  the  Northern  Buddhists.  And  this  brings 
us  to  the  means  by  which  that  teaching  is  handed  on,  the  reli- 
gious education  of  both  these  peoples  —  a  subject  which  must 
be  reserved  to  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

EDUCA-TION  AND  REFORM 

AMONG  every  people  in  any  way  devout,  religious  educa- 
tion necessarily  begins  in  childhood,  whether  there  is 
any  conscious  and  explicit  effort  at  instruction  or  not.  And  so 
of  course  it  is  among  the  Burmese  and  Singhalese.  A  ver\-  com- 
mon sight  at  ever\^  frequented  pagoda  in  Burma  is  the  arrival 
of  a  whole  family  for  its  daily  or  weekly  devotions.  The  father 
and  mother  and  older  children  reverently  prostrate  them- 
selves before  the  Buddha,  while  the  \-oungest  children  for  a 
few  minutes  play  about;  then,  led  by  the  subtle  impulse  to  imi- 
tate, they  take  positions  like  those  of  the  older  members  of 
the  family  —  quite  without  being  told  to  do  so.  Thus  before 
they  can  talk  they  learn  the  formal  and  outward  acts  of  wor- 
ship which  are  to  constitute  so  large  an  element  in  their  reli- 
gion for  the  rest  of  their  days. 

If  they  have  the  good  fortune  to  be  the  children  of  devout 
and  careful  parents  they  will  hear  from  their  lips,  while  still 
very  young,  many  of  the  Jataka  stories  —  excellent  folk-tales, 
most  of  them  about  animals,  in  which  the  hero  is  always  the 
Buddha  in  some  pre\-ious  birth,  and  containing  a  moral  lesson 
of  the  glory  of  unselfish  kindness  which  the  child  is  not  likely 
to  forget  till  he  himself  is  ready  for  another  incarnation.  This 
good  old  custom,  however,  is  now  on  the  wane,  at  least  in  Cey- 
lon, and  many  children  receive  but  little  explicit  religious  in- 
struction till  the  time  comes  for  them  to  go  to  school. 

In  Burma  the  great  majority  of  the  boys  still  go  to  the  mon- 
asteries for  at  least  a  large  part  of  their  schooling.  Here,  be- 
sides the  ordinary  elements,  they  get  further  instruction  in  the 
ceremonial  side  of  their  rehgion,  learn  a  little  about  the  life  of 
Gautama,  and  commit  to  memory-  certain  formulse  in  Pali  and 
Burmese  —  those  given  on  pages  345  and  346  of  this  book  and 
a  few  others.  As  I  have  said  before,  many  of  them  never  under- 
stand fully  —  or  they  soon  forget  —  the  meaning  of  the  Pali 
verses  which  they  learn  to  sa>-.  This  is  an  evil  state  of  things 
360 


EDUCATION   AND   REFORM 

which  is  recognized  by  the  more  intelligent  pongyis.  In  the 
large  Masoyein  Talk  in  Mandalay,  for  instance,  they  refuse 
to  teach  a  boy  any  Pali  text  till  he  has  first  learned  the  meaning 
of  it.  Such  care,  however,  is  uncommon,  and  mere  parrot  learn- 
ing is  the  rule.  Of  course  the  boys  learn  the  meaning  of  some  of 
the  texts  which  they  memorize,  and  this  is  especially  true  of 
the  Five  Precepts.  These  moral  teachings  receive  the  greatest 
emphasis;  and  whatever  else  the  boys  learn  or  fail  to  learn, 
they  know  before  leaving  school  that  it  is  wrong  to  kill,  to 
steal,  to  be  impure,  to  lie,  and  to  drink.  The  monastic  schools 
are  hardly  centers  of  the  intellectual  life;  yet  they  have  theu" 
good  points.  A  Rangoon  Buddhist,  who  ought  to  know,  writes 
of  the  system  of  monastic  schools  that  it  "teaches  self-abase- 
ment, respect,  obedience,  morals,  and  good  manners."  They 
certainly  learn  the  latter.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  the  ten- 
dency to-day  is  all  away  from  the  monastic  schools  toward  the 
Government  schools,  where  better  instruction  in  the  practical 
branches,  especially  in  English,  is  to  be  had.  Here  also,  they 
receive  some  instruction  in  Buddhism.  Burmese  girls,  of  course, 
cannot  go  to  the  monasteries  for  their  education :  but  there  are 
usually  girls'  schools  conducted  by  the  monks  at  or  near  the 
pagoda;  and  they  may  also  go  to  the  Government  schools 
where  they  receive  the  same  religious  education  as  the  boys. 
An  effort  is  also  being  made  by  the  "Association  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  Buddhism"  to  found  schools  which  shall  combine  the 
advantages  of  both  the  monastic  and  the  Government  schools, 
—  namely,  the  best  instruction  in  the  practical  branches  and 
the  best  training  in  Buddhist  religion  and  morality'.  Several 
schools  for  boys  and  one  or  two  for  girls  have  already  been 
started  by  the  association,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the 
movement  will  grow,  especially  if  ever  wealthy  Buddhists  can 
be  convinced  that  to  endow  a  school  brings  one  as  much  merit 
as  to  gild  a  pagoda. 

In  Ceylon  there  are  no  monastery  schools,  in  spite  of  which 
fact  the  children  of  the  well-to-do,  on  the  whole,  receive  quite 
as  much  religious  instruction  of  the  explicit,  book-and-lecture 
type,  as  do  the  little  Burmese,  though  they  miss  the  constant 
training  in  devotion  to  the  Buddha,  reverence  toward  one's 
teachers,  and  respect  for  the  past  which  daily  life  in  a  monas- 
361 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

tery  must  bring.  Thirty  or  forty  years  ago  Colonel  Olcott,  of 
the  Theosophical  Society,  began  founding  Buddhist  schools 
all  over  southern  Ceylon  in  which  boys  and  girls  could  get 
both  a  good  general  education  and  an  intelligent  understand- 
ing of  their  own  religion.  To-day  there  are  upwards  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  such  schools,  managed  by  the  Buddhist 
branch  of  the  Theosophical  Society.  The  Maha-Bodhi  Society 
has  also  taken  up  the  work  of  education  and  controls  about 
twenty-two  schools.  In  all  of  these  Theosophist  and  Maha- 
Bodhi  schools  Buddhism  is  explicitly  taught,  from  one  to  five 
hours  a  week  being  given  to  it.  In  the  schools  which  lay  most 
emphasis  on  religious  instruction  the  children  get  a  good  deal. 
They  are  taught  first  of  all  the  Five  Precepts,  the  "Refuge," 
and  the  proper  reverence  to  the  "Three  Gems"  (the  Buddha, 
the  Law,  and  the  Order);  then  charity,  which  means  making 
offerings  to  the  Buddha,  to  the  monks,  and  to  the  poor.  Many 
texts  are  studied  and  learned  by  heart,  both  in  Pali  and  in 
translation.  Emphasis  is  laid  upon  reverence,  not  only  to  the 
"Three  Gems,"  but  to  parents,  teachers,  and  older  brothers 
and  sisters.  The  more  advanced  pupils  are  also  taught  some- 
thing about  the  "Four  Noble  Truths"  —  the  center  of  Bud- 
dhist philosophy  —  and  the  way  of  reaching  Nirvana.  So  elab- 
orate a  programme  as  this,  of  course,  is  not  for  all;  but  all  the 
Theosophist  and  Maha-Bodhi  schools  see  to  it  that  their  pupils 
obtain  some  intelligent  instruction  in  their  religion.  The 
younger  classes  are,  of  course,  taught  orally;  while  the  more 
advanced  have  textbooks.  Many  of  these  are  in  the  vernacular, 
but  the  highest  classes  study  out  of  books  in  English.  For  this 
purpose  the  Theosophist  schools  use  Colonel  Olcott's  "Bud- 
dhist Catechism,"  and  Paul  Carus's  "The  Gospel  of  Buddha"; 
while  the  Maha-Bodhi  schools  use  Subhadra  Bhikshu's  "Bud- 
dhist Catechism"  — an  excellent  book  of  which  I  shall  have 
more  to  say  in  our  next  chapter.^  There  is  a  marked  difference 

1  Colonel  Olcott's  Catechism  has  gone  through  forty-three  editions  and 
is  published  by  the  Theosophical  Publishing  Society,  whose  chief  office  is 
at  Adyar  (near  Madras).  Paul  Carus's  book  appeared  in  1894,  and  the 
latest  edition  (the  thirteenth)  was  published  in  19 10  (Open  Court,  Chica- 
go). The  Buddhist  Catechism,  by  Subhadra  Bhikshu,  was  first  published  in 
German  in  1888.  The  English  edition  is  a  translation  from  the  eighth 
German  edition.  It  is  published  by  the  Maha-Bodhi  Society  in  Colombo. 

362 


EDUCATION   AND   REFORM 

between  these  books:  the  two  latter  passing  over  in  silence 
most  of  the  magical  and  supernormal  elements  of  Buddhism, 
or  interpreting  them  symbolically,  while  Colonel  Olcott's 
"Catechism"  —  in  true  Theosophist  style  —  makes  a  special 
effort  to  teach  such  things  as  the  "Aura"  emitted  by  the 
Buddha  and  various  holy  Bhikkhus,^  as  well  as  from  certain 
dagobas  in  Ceylon  where  relics  of  the  Buddha  are  said  to  be 
enshrined.  This,  Colonel  Olcott  teaches,  is  a  scientific  fact, 
as  are  also  Vcirious  other  magical  or  "occult"  things  from  the 
Pitakas,  such  as  multiple  appearance,  and  "Iddhi  power" 
(which  may  be  attained,  says  the  "Catechism,"  from  the  reci- 
tation of  mantras,  ascetic  practices,  etc.),  or  the  power  to  look 
backward  or  forward  in  time  with  perfect  retrospective  or  pro- 
phetic vision,  etc.  It  is  most  unfortunate  for  the  development 
of  Buddhism  and  for  the  intellectual  future  of  Ceylon  that  this 
book  is  used  so  much  more  than  the  others,  disseminating  as 
it  does  not  only  the  more  superstitious  elements  of  Buddhism, 
but  giving  the  Singhalese  youth  a  badly  warped  idea  of  what 
"modern  science"  means. 

The  Theosophist  and  Maha-Bodhi  schools,  of  course,  cost 
money;  hence  are  not  for  all.  The  tuition  fee  varies,  in  some 
being  seven  and  a  half  rupees  a  month.  The  poor  who  cannot 
afford  this  send  their  boys  for  a  little  religious  instruction  to 
the  monks  in  the  monasteries,  where  they  work  for  their  les- 
sons. These  lessons  are  of  an  extremely  unsystematic  charac- 
ter—  resembling  the  instruction  in  the  Burmese  monasteries 
in  type,  but  apparently  in  most  respects  much  inferior.  The 
boys  learn  the  Five  Precepts,  the  way  to  kneel  before  the 
Buddha,  the  way  to  hold  their  hands  when  praying  to  Him 
and  the  way  to  hold  them  when  praying  to  the  devatas,  and  a 
few  Pali  texts  of  which  they  never  come  to  know  the  meaning. 

The  religious  instruction  of  the  adult  Buddhist  is  very  much 
less  systematic  and  thorough  than  is  that  of  the  child.  Some 
instruct  themselves  to  some  extent  by  reading  vernacular 
translations  of  the  sacred  books.  For  this  purpose  the  Jataka 
stories  are  the  most  popular,  and  are  practically  the  only 
Buddhist  books  that  the  people  read  themselves.  Some  of 
these  stories  are  also  presented  in  "pwes"  or  plays,  of  which 
1  The  ancient  word  for  Buddhist  monk. 
363 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

the  Burmese  are  extremely  fond,  and  which  thus  fill  the  place 
taken  by  the  miracle  plays  in  mediaeval  Christianity.  The 
monks,  it  must  be  remembered,  are  primarily  neither  priests 
nor  preachers :  their  first  aim  is  their  own  salvation.  Yet  they 
do,  on  occasion,  give  religious  instruction  to  the  people.  If  a 
family  or  an  individual  wishes  to  hear  the  sacred  books  read 
or  to  have  special  instruction  in  religious  truth,  a  monk  will 
come  to  the  home  and  read  or  preach.  A  special  offering  is,  of 
course,  expected  in  return.  Moreover,  at  the  full  moon  and 
the  new  moon  there  is  usually  in  every  community  a  public 
reading  of  the  Law  followed  by  an  explanation  of  it.  In  some 
communities  this  may  be  done  as  often  as  four  times  a  month. 
The  attendance  at  the  time  of  full  moon  is  usually  large,  and 
the  monastery  on  that  evening  forms  a  very  pretty  sight.  The 
people  begin  to  come  soon  after  dark,  bearing  offerings  of 
flowers  which  they  lay  at  the  feet  of  the  Buddha,  and  candles 
which  they  place  within  the  shrine  and  about  all  the  sacred 
things  in  the  compound.  In  Ceylon  the  various  smaller  shrines 
are  thus  adorned;  the  dagoba  is  circled  with  candles,  and  the 
great  Bo  tree  is  especially  briUiant.  When  the  candle  ceremony 
is  finished,  about  nine  or  later,  the  people  assemble  in  the 
large  preaching  hall  made  for  the  purpose,  and  squatting  upon 
the  floor  listen  to  the  monks  who  read  —  or  more  exactly  recite 
—  for  hours  from  the  Pali  books,  accompanying  their  reading 
by  a  running  explanation  and  commentary.  At  the  new  moon 
but  few  turn  out  and  most  of  these  go  home  before  the  reading; 
and  the  two  other  "duty  days"  are  observed  by  only  a  handful. 
Besides  these  stated  readings,  a  specially  zealous  monk  may 
announce  that  at  a  certain  time  and  in  a  certain  place  he  will 
read  the  Law  and  all  may  come  who  wish.  This  is  more  com- 
mon in  Burma  than  in  Ceylon:  in  the  island  the  monks  are 
very  reserved  and  will  not  preach  or  read  (outside  of  "poya" 
days)  unless  specially  invited  to  do  so.  "We  are  too  proud," 
one  monk  said  to  me;  "we  have  too  much  respect  for  the  Lord 
Buddha  and  for  his  religion  to  force  it  upon  those  who  do  not 
first  ask  for  it." 

Besides  the  reading  from  the  sacred  books,  the  "preaching" 
may    include    exhortation    to    righteousness.     Harmlessness, 
kindness,  love,  purity,  and  the  avoidance  of  the  three  great 
364 


EDUCATION   AND   REFORM 

fetters  of  lust,  anger,  and  ignorance,  are  urged.  The  theoreti- 
cal part  of  the  Buddhist  teaching  —  the  "Four  Noble  Truths" 
and  the  doctrine  of  impermanence  and  selflessness  —  are  sel- 
dom taught  in  these  popular  discourses  and  are  reserved  for 
the  more  advanced.  Attendance  at  these  various  preaching 
services  is,  of  course,  left  entirely  to  the  conscience  of  each 
family  or  individual,  and  so  far  as  I  could  discover  no  attempt 
is  ever  made  to  seek  and  find  the  lost  sheep  and  bring  them 
back  to  the  fold.  Each  Buddhist  is  his  own  master  and  no  one 
is  his  brother's  keeper.  The  state  of  your  soul  is  none  of  my 
business,  and  if  you  wish  to  pile  up  evil  Karma  for  yourself,  it 
is  your  affair,  not  mine. 

Where  so  little  effort  is  made  to  keep  those  born  in  the  Bud- 
dhist faith  true  to  their  religion,  there  is,  of  course,  little  thought 
of  bringing  into  the  fold  those  born  outside  it.  A  few  laymen 
in  both  Burma  and  Ceylon  favor  (in  a  passive  sort  of  way) 
attempts  at  proselyting,  but  there  is  hardly  a  monk  in  either 
land  who  would  think  of  taking  the  first  steps  to  convert  a 
non-Buddhist.  If  the  non-Buddhist  inquires  after  the  truth, 
the  monk  will  be  really  glad  to  help  him  find  it;  but  he  has 
too  much  respect  for  the  independence  of  every  individual  to 
seek  to  spread  the  Law  among  those  who  do  not  wish  for  it. 

It  is  doubtless  as  a  result  of  this  listlessness  in  teaching  and 
propagating  their  religion  that  many  of  the  monks  are  becom- 
ing rather  pessimistic  of  its  future.  Particularly  is  this  the  case 
in  Burma.  Many  Burmese  monks  said  to  me  that  Buddhism 
was  on  the  wane  and  that  they  looked  forward  to  its  complete 
extinction  in  Burma  and  in  the  world.  This,  however,  did  not 
seem  greatly  to  trouble  them.  They  correlated  it  —  and  logi- 
cally enough  —  with  the  prophecy  of  Gautama,  that  in  five 
thousand  years  after  his  death,  the  true  doctrine  would  die 
out  of  the  world  and  the  new  Buddha,  Maitreya,  would  have 
to  come  to  restore  it.  Thus  the  very  decline  of  their  religion 
they  hail  as  a  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  of  its  founder.  In  Cey- 
lon, on  the  other  hand,  the  feeling  was  much  more  hopeful  — 
owing,  perhaps,  to  the  more  determined  and  systematic  effort 
in  that  island  at  the  education  of  the  young.  Something  also 
is  being  done  (though  not  much)  toward  the  conversion  of  the 
Tamils. 

365 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

If  the  monks  are  content  to  wait  for  Maitreya  Buddha  to 
restore  the  true  doctrine  and  reconvert  mankind,  there  are 
many  Buddhist  laymen  in  both  Ceylon  and  Burma  who  have 
not  so  much  of  the  virtue  of  patience,  and  who  are  willing  to 
risk  defeat  and  disappointment  in  the  effort  to  spread  again 
the  pure  doctrine  of  the  Law  and  the  old  enthusiasm  for  it. 
In  Burma  they  have  several  institutions  with  this  end.  One 
is  the  Y.M.B.A.  ("Young  Men's  Buddhist  Association")  with 
activities  of  various  sorts,  athletic,  intellectual,  and  religious, 
in  imitation  of  the  Y.M.C.A.  I  was  told  that  it  was  in  a  some- 
what moribund,  or  at  least  hibernating,  condition;  but  its  aim, 
at  least,  —  the  retention  of  the  young  men  and  their  upbuild- 
ing in  the  Buddhist  faith  and  the  cultivation  of  their  moral 
character,  —  speaks  well  for  its  founders.  Then  there  is  the 
"Association  for  the  Propagation  of  Buddhism,"  whose  edu- 
cational work  has  akeady  been  referred  to.  Other  centers  of 
reform  effort  are  the  "Mandalay  Society  for  Promoting  Bud- 
dhism" and  the  "  Rangoon  College  Buddhist  Association,"  both 
of  which  publish  periodicals  devoted  to  the  spread  of  pure 
Buddhism.  The  latter  in  addition  holds  young  men's  meetings 
for  religious  and  moral  instruction  and  discussion.^  Mention 
should  also  be  made  of  the  "Burman"and  one  or  two  other 
periodicals  of  Buddhist  reform;  and  especially  of  the  preach- 
ing of  Ledi  Sadaw,  —  known  all  over  Burma  as  the  "Great 
Teacher,"  —  a  kind  of  Buddhist  revivalist  and  at  the  same 
time  a  real  scholar,  who  though  himself  a  monk  has  caught 
the  laymen's  spirit  of  reform  and  devotes  his  entire  time  to 
study,  writing,  and  itinerant  preaching.  The  example  of  Ledi 
Sadaw  is  a  shining  exception;  for  the  monkhood  as  a  whole 
is  either  indifferent  or  positively  hostile  to  the  new  move- 
ment. 

1  The  objects  of  the  "Mandalay  Society  for  Promoting  Buddhism" 
(which  was  "established  a.b.  2444")  are:  — 
(i)  To  maintain  the  Buddhist  monks  in  food,  etc. 

(2)  To  promote  the  learning  of  Buddhist  Scriptures. 

(3)  To  start  an  Anglo-vernacular  Buddhist  school. 

(4)  To  publish  a  monthly  Buddhist  journal. 

(5)  To  start  a  printing-press. 

(6)  To  look  after  the  Buddhist  monasteries,  pagodas,  inscriptions,  etc. 

(7)  To  train  Buddhist  monks  in  different  languages  and  send  them  abroad 
as  missionaries. 

366 


EDUCATION   AND   REFORM 

The  monks,  indeed,  are  losing  their  influence  over  the  laity 
of  Burma  and  are  becoming  conscious  of  the  loss.  This  is  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  every  year  more  parents  take  their  chil- 
dren out  of  the  monastery  schools  and  send  them  where  they 
can  receive  more  modern  instruction.  In  part  it  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  many  monks,  after  a  few  years  in  the  monastery,  now 
give  up  the  religious  life  and  return  to  the  world  —  a  tendency 
nearly  as  noticeable,  in  this  active  age,  among  Buddhists  as  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  one  which,  at  least  in  Burma, 
is  bringing  the  monastic  life  into  disrespect  among  the  people. 
The  monastic  ideal  is  declining  the  world  over,  in  Buddhist 
lands  as  well  as  in  Christian. 

The  reform  movement  in  Ceylon  resembles  closely  that  in 
Burma.  Here,  however,  there  is  perhaps  a  greater  emphasis 
upon  education,  more  intelligent  and  concerted  effort,  and  a 
more  hopeful  and  enthusiastic  attitude  of  mind.  The  move- 
ment is  also  characterized  by  a  more  pronounced  antagonism 
to  Christian  missionary  effort.  Four  chief  means  of  reform, 
instruction,  and  propagation  are  used,  (i)  The  Buddhist 
schools  of  which  I  have  already  spoken.  Some  of  these  are 
deliberately  placed  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Christian 
schools.  One  missionary  told  me  —  in  aggrieved  tones  — 
that  wherever  a  Christian  school  was  started,  a  Buddhist 
school  is  set  up  with  the  deliberate  aim  of  emptying  the  former; 
and  in  some  cases,  he  added,  the  Buddhists  succeed.  (2)  Bud- 
dhist institutions  are  founded  in  imitation  of  Christian  insti- 
tutions which  are  known  to  have  worked  well.  The  Y.M.B.A. 
has  been  at  work  for  some  years  in  Ceylon,  and  now  they  have 
founded  a  Buddhist  Sunday-School.  Most  important,  per- 
haps, of  these  institutions  are  the  "Maha-Bodhi  Society,"  and 
the  recently  founded  "International  Buddhist  Brotherhood," 
which  aims  to  unite  Buddhists  of  all  lands  —  northern  and 
southern  —  in  an  attempt  at  reviving  the  work  and  spirit  of 
Gautama.  (3)  Itinerant  preachers  are  sent  about.  (4)  The 
printing-press  is  kept  busy  turning  out  Buddhist  tracts  and 
periodicals,  containing  both  instruction  in  Buddhism  and 
attacks  upon  Christianity.  The  Theosophist  Buddhists  pub- 
lish a  weekly'  paper  in  the  vernacular  and  the  Maha-Bodhi 
Society  another,  —  each    disseminating  about    six  thousand 

367 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

copies  every  week.  The  Maha-Bodhi  Society  also  publishes  a 
monthly  in  English,  known  as  "The  Maha-Bodhi  and  the 
United  Buddhist  World." 

This  Maha-Bodhi  Society  is  the  most  promising  force  for 
reform  within  Buddhism  that  I  came  upon  in  either  Burma  or 
Ceylon.  I  use  the  word  "promising"  advisedly,  for  though  it 
occasionally  lends  itself  to  unscholarly  and  frantic  attacks 
upon  Christianity  with  ammunition  drawn  from  the  rationalist 
press,  its  great  aim  is  the  moral  and  intellectual  regeneration 
of  Buddhism,  and  as  a  rule  it  puts  its  emphasis  in  the  right 
place.  It  was  founded  in  189 1,  by  Mr.  H.  Dharmapala,  a  schol- 
arly layman  of  Colombo  who  represented  Southern  Buddhism 
in  the  Chicago  Congress  of  Religions  in  1893,  and  who  is  still 
the  head  of  the  society.  He  realized  that  to  do  the  most  pos- 
sible for  his  fellow-countrymen  he  must  be  neither  lay  nor 
clerical.  The  layman  is  too  busy  with  the  afifairs  of  the  world 
and  its  ties  to  give  himself  up  absolutely  to  the  work  of  reform ; 
and  the  monk,  living  in  the  monastery,  is  too  far  removed  — 
physically  and  spiritually  —  from  the  world  which  the  re- 
former would  help.  So  Mr.  Dharmapala  took  the  vows  and 
the  yellow  robe  of  the  monk,  but  lives  in  the  world,  and  gives 
up  his  time  to  preaching  the  pure  Buddhism  of  Gautama.  This, 
he  says,  is  nowhere  to  be  found  to-day;  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  individuals  here  and  there,  there  are  no  real  Buddhists 
left  in  the  world.  The  doctrine  of  the  Master  has  been  so  over- 
laid with  successive  layers  of  accretions  that  it  is  no  longer 
recognizable.  His  aim  and  that  of  the  Maha-Bodhi  Society 
is,  therefore,  to  tear  off  all  these  accretions  and  to  go  back  to 
that  part  of  Buddhism  which  originated  with  the  Buddha.^ 
The  two  points  that  he  emphasizes  most  in  his  preaching 
and  his  writing  are  Activity  and  the  importance  of  the  Present 
Moment. 

*  The  specific  aims  of  the  Maha-Bodhi  Society  are  thus  officially  ex- 
pressed: "To  make  known  to  all  nations  the  sublime  teachings  of  the 
Buddha  Sakya  Muni;  to  reestablish  a  monastery  and  college  at  Calcutta, 
Benares,  and  Isapatana  for  the  residence  of  Bhikkhus  of  Thibet,  Ceylon, 
China,  Japan,  Burma,  Siam,  Cambodia,  Chittagong,  Nepal,  Korea,  and 
Arakan;  for  training  young  men  of  unblemished  character  of  whatsoever 
race  and  country  for  carrying  abroad  the  message  of  peace  and  brotherly 
love  promulgated  by  the  Divine  Teacher  twenty-four  centuries  ago." 

368 


EDUCATION   AND   REFORM 

The  Singhalese  are  too  fond  of  putting  off  to  another  time 
important  matters  and  of  looking  forward  to  a  future  incarna- 
tion to  set  things  right.  Hence  he  never  ceases  urging  upon  them 
that  now,  now,  is  the  time  to  do  whatever  is  worth  doing,  and 
that  it  is  here  and  now  that  they  must  look  for  salvation  and 
Nirvana  if  it  is  ever  to  be  attained.  The  other  point  is  even 
more  important.  Buddhism  must  not  be  made  into  a  religion 
of  passivity  and  idleness.  The  Buddha  himself  was  always 
active  and  always  preaching  activity.  And  by  activity  Mr. 
Dharmapala  means  (i)  unremitting  alertness  against  the  in- 
numerable and  subtle  temptations  of  sloth,  ignorance,  lust, 
anger,  envy,  avarice,  pride,  and  the  rest;  and  (2)  constant 
endeavor  to  help  others  into  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  with  its 
resulting  peace  and  joy.  In  preaching  activity  and  unselfish- 
ness as  the  great  Buddhist  virtues  he  has  to  deal  with  the  ex- 
ample of  the  monks;  and  no  Christian  missionary  could  be 
more  unsparing  in  his  invectives.  The  monks  live,  he  says,  a 
life  of  la2y^  and  selfish  retirement;  their  chief  religious  function 
is  ringing  the  temple  bell,  and  their  chief  activity  is  often  that 
of  drinking  tea.  It  is  against  them  a  large  part  of  his  preaching 
is  directed,  and  the  people  are  exhorted  not  to  take  them  as 
ideals.  He  also  calls  upon  the  people  not  to  identify  religion 
with  external  observances  and  the  repetition  of  meaningless 
formulas,  but  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  as  the  Lord 
Buddha  taught,  by  means  of  moral  activity.  It  is  wrong  to 
trust  to  the  ringing  of  a  bell  as  the  monks  do  at  the  dagobas: 
and  it  is  wrong  to  trust  to  prayer  to  an  imaginary  deity  as  the 
Christian  padres  do.  Only  one's  own  moral  activity  can  really 
lead  to  peace. 

The  people,  he  assures  me,  respond  to  this  sort  of  doctrine, 
and  at  many  a  remote  village  after  he  has  preached  they  say 
to  him,  "This  sort  of  simple  teaching  we  can  understand.  But 
why  did  not  some  one  tell  us  this  before?" 

Unfortunately  there  are  not  many  men  in  Ceylon  or  Burma 
like  Mr.  Dharmapala.  But  he  is  kindling  a  fire  that  may  not 
be  extinguished.  For  he  has  seen  that  the  glory  of  Buddhism 
lies  in  the  spirit  of  service  which  so  dominated  its  great  founder ; 
and  he  has  chosen  as  the  motto  of  the  society  those  noble 
words  addressed  by  the  Buddha  to  his  earliest  disciples:  "Go 

369 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ye,  O  Bhikkhus,  and  wander  forth  for  the  gain  of  the  many, 
the  welfare  of  the  many,  in  compassion  for  the  world,  for  the 
good,  for  the  gain,  for  the  welfare  of  gods  and  men.  Proclaim, 
O  Bhikkhus,  the  Doctrine  glorious,  preach  ye  a  life  of  holiness, 
perfect  and  pure." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   DOCTRINES   OF  MODERN   BUDDHISM 

THE  most  universally  accepted  and  the  most  influential 
of  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism  is  undoubtedly  the  belief 
in  rebirth  and  Karma.  This,  as  popularly  understood,  differs 
hardly  at  all  from  the  corresponding  Hindu  doctrine  from 
which  it  was,  of  course,  derived.  The  important  modifications 
made  by  the  Buddha,  in  consequence  of  his  having  done  away 
with  a  substantial  self  or  soul,  are  known  only  to  the  more 
learned,  and  for  the  layman  are  almost  non-existent.  For  him 
the  truth  is  very  simple :  one  dies,  goes  to  heaven  or  hell  for  a 
shorter  or  longer  period,  until  a  certain  amount  of  his  merit  or 
demerit  has  been  consumed,  and  then  is  reborn  into  this  world 
in  accordance  with  the  deeds  done  in  his  former  body.  In  a 
general  way  this  belief  is  borne  out  by  the  orthodox  Buddhist 
teaching  —  which  in  fact  provides  not  only  rebirth  and  several 
heavens  and  hells,  but  also  a  preliminary  and  intermediate 
state  which  two  Buddhist  authorities  (Professor  Rhys-Davids 
and  Mr.  F.  L.  Woodward)  translate  "purgatory."  There  is, 
however,  no  place  in  the  orthodox  philosophy  for  the  popular 
belief  in  the  reward  and  rebirth  of  the  identical  individual. 
Since  for  Buddhism  the  self  is  merely  a  collection  of  qualities, 
there  is  no  real  self  or  ego  to  be  rewarded  or  reborn.  This 
anatta  doctrine  of  the  merely  phenomenal  nature  of  the  self  is, 
as  I  have  indicated,  quite  unknown  to  most  laymen  and  to  the 
less  learned  of  the  monks;  but  many  monks  there  are  in 
both  Burma  and  Ceylon  who  understand  and  hold  it  and  teach 
it  in  quite  the  manner  of  Nagasena  in  his  famous  conversa- 
tions with  King  Milinda  in  the  classic  days  of  Buddhism.^ 
The  Hermit  of  Mandalay  Hill  expounded  it  to  me  by  asking: 
"Where,  sir,  is  the  monastery?  Is  this  column  the  monaster>^? 
Is  this  brick  the  monastery?  Surely  there  is  no  being  known 

'  The  Questions  of  King  Milinda,  ii,  i  (translated  by  Rhys- Davids), 
_S,  B.  E.  vol.  XXXV.    (Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1890O 

371 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

as  the  monastery  here  to  be  found.  So  there  is  no  self,  but  only 
a  collection  of  members  and  of  characteristics  —  name  and 
form."  This  is  sound  Buddhist  doctrine,  and  however  it 
pleases  us  we  must  admit  that  it  is  surprisingly  modem  in  tone 
and  thoroughly  consistent  with  Western  science  and  philoso- 
phy. In  essentials  it  is  the  doctrine  of  Hume,  of  Friedrich 
Paulsen  and  WiUiam  James,  of  Pragmatism  and  of  most  mod- 
em psychology. 

But  if  there  be  no  ego  or  soul,  what  is  there  to  be  reborn? 
The  "Buddhist  Catechism,"  by  Subhadra  Bhikshu  (which  as 
I  said  in  the  last  chapter  is  used  as  a  textbook  in  some  of  the 
Buddhist  schools  and  is,  perhaps,  as  authoritative  a  presenta- 
tion of  Buddhism  as  can  be  found  in  any  modem  summary) 
answers  this  question  as  follows :  — 

"It  is  our  will-to-live  and  our  moral  character  that  are  re- 
bom.  These  form  the  core  of  our  being,  and  create  for  them- 
selves after  the  disintegration  of  our  present  body  a  new  one, 
corresponding  exactly  to  their  nature." 

The  "Catechism"  goes  on  to  ask:  — 

"Then  the  being  which  is  reborn  is  not  the  same  which 
died?" 

And  the  answer  is :  — 

"  It  is  not  the  same  and  not  another.  It  may  seem  to  be  an- 
other to  a  man  still  in  the  state  of  ignorance,  who  \sTongly 
identifies  his  personal  ego-consciousness  with  his  tme  being. 
He  who  has  attained  wisdom  knows  that  his  real  being  is  his 
will-to-live  and  his  moral  character  ["  Tanha"  and  "  Karma"]; 
but  that  the  recurring  ego-consciousness  is  only  a  transient 
phenomenon,  to  be  compared  to  the  torch  lit  by  a  wanderer 
at  night  to  find  his  way.  When  he  does  not  need  it  any  more 
he  extinguishes  it,  to  light  a  new  torch  for  a  later  wandering. 
Thus,  though  the  ego-consciousness  may  change,  it  is  in  a 
sense  by  the  tie  of  Karma  always  the  same  individuality  which 
in  one  birth  does  the  good  or  bad  deeds  and  in  the  next  reaps 
the  fmits  of  these  deeds,  though  in  the  absence  of  any  sub- 
stance passmg  from  one  life  to  the  next  it  is  not  absolutely  the 
same."  ^ 

But  just  as  there  are  few  disciples  of  Hume  who  consistently 
1  Pages  36-37- 
372 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  MODERN  BUDDHISM 

speak  as  if  the  self  were  merely  "a  bundle  or  collection  of  dif- 
ferent perceptions,"  so  there  are  few  Buddhists  who  carry  out 
their  doctrine  of  the  ego  in  all  its  logical  implications.  Possibly 
heaven,  hell,  and  "purgatory,"  for  which  chapter  and  verse 
in  the  sacred  books  can  be  cited,  may  be  made  consistent  with 
this  doctrine.  But  it  is  harder  to  see  how  on  this  view  there  is 
any  hope  for  the  reunion  of  friends  on  the  other  side  of  death. 
And  yet  this  hope  certainly  is  held  by  some  in  both  Burma  and 
Ceylon,  and  even  justified  as  a  possibility  by  some  of  the  schol- 
ars of  Buddhism.^ 

There  is,  then,  a  practical  kind  of  agreement  between 
learned  and  ignorant  on  the  question  of  heaven,  hell,  and  re- 
birth. And  concerning  retribution  and  the  law  of  Karma  there 
is  even  more  complete  unanimity.  All  Buddhists  believe  with 
the  Hindus  that  sequence  of  reward  following  upon  good  deeds 
and  punishment  following  evil  deeds  is  eternal  and  inevitable; 
that  what  we  sow  we  reap  through  endless  ages.  Whether  high 
or  low,  ignorant  or  learned,  the  Buddhist  has  an  unshakable 
and  unquestioning,  almost  a  naive,  confidence  in  the  absolute 
justice  of  the  universe. 

There  is  no  such  unanimity  between  the  ignorant  and  the 
learned  on  the  question  of  the  present  condition  of  the  Buddha 
—  a  question  of  very  practical  importance  considering  his 
central  position  in  Buddhist  thought  and  worship.  The  more 
ignorant  Buddhists  —  including  some  even  of  the  monks  — 
accept  the  Buddha  to  all  practical  purposes  as  a  god.  For 
many  of  them  he  leads  a  conscious  and  joyous  existence,  hears 
the  prayers  of  his  followers  and  answers  them.  This,  of  course, 
is  not  the  orthodox  view,  and  all  the  more  intelligent  monks 
will  assure  you  that  the  Buddha  is  beyond  hearing  petitions 
or  answering  prayers.  In  the  words  of  a  monk  in  Kandy  and 
of  another  in  Galle  with  whom  I  talked  and  whose  English  was 
not  so  good  as  their  Pali,  "Bud6ha  finish.''  A  monk  in  Ran- 
goon put  it  thus:  "Buddha  is  not  living;  he  is  beyond  conscious- 

*  Cf.  an  article,  "Death  and  After,"  by  Professor  E.  J.  Mills,  in  the 
Buddhist  Review  for  October,  1912,  especially  p.  295.  Fielding  Hall  has  a 
pathetic  story  of  a  Burmese  woman  who  believed  that  her  dead  lover  was 
reborn  in  the  body  of  her  baby,  and  who  when  the  baby  died  went  herself 
into  the  other  world  hoping  to  join  him  there.  The  Soul  0}  a  People  [Lon- 
don, Macmillan,  191 1],  pp.  306-08). 

373 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

ness  and  has  neither  consciousness  nor  soul.  He  is  inactive 
and  can  do  nothing  for  us  actively.  He  lives  only  in  his  teach- 
ings. He  is  in  Nirvana."  And  a  monk  at  Mandalay  put  it  in 
much  the  same  way:  "Buddha  is  non-existent  so  far  as  we 
know,  and  has  no  consciousness  of  what  happens  here.  He 
certainly  does  not  hear  prayer.   He  is  in  Nirvana." 

As  the  words  of  both  these  monks  suggest,  the  question  of 
the  Buddha's  present  status  inevitably  raises  in  the  Western 
mind  the  question  of  the  nature  of  Nirvana.  I  say  "in  the 
Western  mind,"  for  Nirvana  as  a  state  after  death  certainly 
plays  a  much  more  important  part  in  Western  ideas  of  Bud- 
dhism than  in  the  thoughts  of  Buddhists.  The  masses  know 
they  have  so  little  chance  at  Nirvana  for  thousands  of  years 
that  they  do  not  much  trouble  their  heads  over  its  nature.  And 
the  two  most  intelligent  Buddhists  I  ever  met  assured  me  that 
the  fact  that  I  asked  about  Nirvana  showed  I  was  going  at 
Buddhism  from  the  wrong  —  the  Western  —  end.  And,  in- 
deed, they  have  the  authority  of  the  Buddha  himself  for  their 
words.  In  the  Majjhima-Nikaya  we  are  told  that  this  ques- 
tion of  the  condition  of  the  saint  after  death  once  presented 
itself  to  the  venerable  Malunkyaputta,  one  of  Gautama's  fa- 
vorite disciples.  And  he  said  to  himself :  — 

"These  questions  which  the  Blessed  One  has  left  uneluci- 
dated,  has  set  aside  and  rejected,  —  whether  the  world  is 
eternal,  whether  the  world  is  infinite,  whether  the  saint  exists 
after  death,  —  these  the  Blessed  One  does  not  elucidate  to  me. 
And  the  fact  that  the  Blessed  One  does  not  elucidate  them  to 
me  does  not  please  me.  I  will  therefore  draw  near  to  the 
Blessed  One  and  inquire  of  him  concerning  this  matter." 

So  he  arose  and  drew  near  to  the  Blessed  One  and  put  his 
questions,  closing  them  by  saying:  — 

"If  the  Blessed  One  knows  that  the  world  is  eternal,  or  that 
the  world  is  infinite,  or  that  the  saint  exists  after  death,  or  that 
he  does  not  exist  after  death,  let  the  Blessed  One  elucidate 
these  things  to  me.  If  the  Blessed  One  does  not  know,  the 
only  upright  thing  for  one  who  does  not  know,  who  has  not 
that  insight,  is  to  say,  *  I  do  not  know :  I  have  not  that  insight.'  " 

To  this  the  Buddha  responded :  — 

"Pray,   Malunkyaputta,  did   I   ever  say  to  you,   'Come, 

374 


THE  DOCTRINES   OF  MODERN   BUDDHISM 

Malunkyaputta,  lead  the  religious  life  under  me  and  I  will 
elucidate  to  you  whether  the  world  is  eternal  or  infinite 
and  whether  the  saint  exists  or  does  not  exist  after  death?' 
Malunk\'aputta,  any  one  who  should  say,  '  I  will  not  lead  the 
religious  life  under  the  Blessed  One  until  the  Blessed  One  shall 
elucidate  to  me  these  questions;  that  person  would  die,  Malun- 
kyaputta, before  the  Perfect  One  had  ever  elucidated  them 
to  him.  It  is  as  if  a  man  had  been  wounded  by  an  arrow 
thickly  smeared  with  poison,  and  his  friends  and  companions, 
his  relatives  and  kinsfolk,  were  to  procure  for  him  a  physician; 
and  the  sick  man  were  to  say,  '  I  will  not  have  this  arrow  taken 
out  until  I  have  learned  whether  the  man  who  wounded  me 
belonged  to  the  warrior  caste,  or  the  Brahmin  caste,  or  to  the 
agricultural  caste,  or  to  the  menial  caste';  or  as  if  he  were  to 
say,  *I  will  not  have  this  arrow  taken  out  until  I  learn  the 
name  of  the  man  who  wounded  me  and  to  what  clan  he  be- 
longs; or  till  I  have  learned  whether  he  was  black,  or  dusky, 
or  of  a  yellow  skin;  or  till  I  have  learned  whether  the  arrow 
was  an  ordinary  arrow,  or  a  claw-headed  arrow,  or  an  iron 
arrow,  or  a  calf-tooth  arrow.'  That  man  would  die,  Malunkya- 
putta, without  ever  having  learned  this.  In  exactly  the  same 
way,  Malunkyaputta,  any  one  who  should  say,  '  I  will  not  lead 
the  religious  life  under  the  Blessed  One  until  he  shall  elucidate 
to  me  whether  the  world  is  eternal  and  whether  the  saint 
exists  after  death,  —  that  person  would  die,  Malunkyaputta, 
before  the  Perfect  One  had  ever  elucidated  this  to  him. 

"The  religious  life  does  not  depend  on  the  dogma  that  the 
world  is  eternal  or  infinite,  or  that  the  saint  exists  after  death. 
Whether  these  doctrines  are  true  or  false  there  still  remain 
birth,  old  age,  death,  sorrow,  lamentation,  misery,  grief,  de- 
spair, for  the  extinction  of  which  in  the  present  life  I  am  pre- 
scribing. Accordingly,  Malunk^'aputta,  bear  always  in  mind 
what  it  is  that  I  have  not  elucidated.  And  why  have  I  not  elu- 
cidated these  questions?  Because  they  profit  not,  they  have 
not  to  do  with  the  fundamentals  of  religion,  therefore  have  I 
not  elucidated  them."  ^ 

^  Translated  by  Warren  in  his  Buddhism  in  Translations  (published  by 
Harvard  University,  1896),  pp.  117-22.  I  have  greatly  abbreviated  the 
passage. 

375 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

The  Buddha,  in  short,  insisted  —  and  he  did  it  repeatedly 
and  consistently  —  that  he  came  not  to  teach  philosophy,  but 
to  save  the  world.  And  in  this  he  showed  his  wisdom.  He 
would  not  allow  the  attention  of  his  followers  to  be  deflected 
from  the  main  issue.  He  was  determined  that  the  emphasis 
should  be  put  in  the  right  place.  Were  he  alive  to-day  he 
would  probably  point  out  to  us  how  sadly  religion  has  suffered 
—  how  sadly  Christianity  has  suffered  —  by  the  confusion  of 
the  religious  life  with  metaphysics;  and  how  the  union  of  reli- 
gion with  speculation  lays  it  open  to  certam  and  unnecessary 
attack.  The  state  of  the  saint  after  death  —  Nirvana  —  may 
be  conscious  or  it  may  not;  but  in  neither  case  has  it  anything 
to  do  with  "absence  of  passion,  quiescence,  and  supreme  wis- 
dom." 

But  while  it  is  true  that  the  Buddha  never  committed  him- 
self on  the  question  whether  the  saint  existed  or  did  not  exist 
after  death,  and  while  doubtless  the  orthodox  Buddhist  should 
follow  his  example,  there  is  still  something  to  be  gleaned  from 
the  sacred  books  concerning  Nu-vana,  and  nearly  all  the 
monks,  learned  and  ignorant  alike,  have  more  or  less  decided 
views  on  the  subject.  One  monk,  who  had  evidently  read 
widely  in  Buddhist  literature,  told  me  that  Nirvana  was  "eternal 
happiness."  This  "happiness,"  he  said,  was  a  very  different 
thing  from  pleasure.  There  was  no  pleasure  in  Nirvana,  noth- 
ing worldly;  but  Nirvana  was  a  state  of  conscious  happiness 
none  the  less  and  by  no  means  a  cessation  of  consciousness. 
An  upasaka  who  taught  Buddhism  in  a  boys'  school  told  me 
practically  the  same  thing:  to  use  his  own  words,  Nirvana 
means  "eternal  comfort";  and  the  abbot  of  the  leading  Mal- 
watta  1  monastery  in  Kandy  agreed  with  him  in  this  definition. 
Probably  this  is  the  view  that  many  monks  and  laymen  hold. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  majority  of  the  learned  monks  with 
whom  I  have  talked  in  both  Burma  and  Ceylon,  as  well  as 
several  of  the  laymen,  insisted  that  Nirvana  is  not  a  conscious 
state  at  all.  I  quoted  to  the  monk  at  Galle  (to  whom  I  referred 

^  The  most  important  of  the  two  subdivisions  of  the  Siamese  Order  of 
monks  in  Ceylon.  About  fifty  per  cent  of  Buddhist  monks  in  Ceylon  be- 
long to  the  so-called  Siamese  Order.  There  are  two  other  orders,  the  Amara- 
pura  and  Ramanya. 


THE  DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

above)  the  definitions  of  Nirvana  as  "eternal  happiness"  and 
"eternal  comfort,"  and  he  asserted  stoutly  that  these  views 
were  absolutely  mistaken.  In  his  own  picturesque  word  again, 
Nirvana  means  "finish"; —  "comfort  and  happiness  finish  as 
well  as  discomfort  and  sorrow."  Something  like  this  was  the 
view  of  most  of  the  monks  with  whom  I  talked,  and  it  cer- 
tainly would  seem  to  be  the  logical  conclusion  from  the  prem- 
ises. For  when  Karma  and  the  will-to-live  cease  to  act,  even 
the  shadow  of  a  self  which  Buddhism  recognizes  ceases  to 
exist.  As  there  is  nothing  and  no  one  to  be  conscious,  and  no 
reproduction  of  name,  form,  characteristics,  or  "Khandas," 
it  is  hard  to  see  how  Nirvana  can  be  anything  but  the  end  of 
consciousness  —  in  other  words,  "finish"!  Such  was  evi- 
dently the  reasoning  of  the  monks  with  whom  I  talked.  And 
they  almost  all  added  that  they  longed  for  Nirvana  because 
conscious  life  was  necessarily  evil.  The  people,  they  told  me, 
—  and  I  thought  this  significant,  —  did  not  really  want  Nir- 
v^ana.  What  they  desired  was  heaven  and  a  good  rebirth. 

One  old  monk,  however,  with  whom  I  had  a  long  interview 
through  an  interpreter,  had  a  more  agnostic  view  concerning 
Nirvana.  The  boy  or  young  man  who  had  come  with  me  to 
interpret  was  a  very  well-informed  and  thoughtful  Buddhist. 
We  had  had  a  long  talk  on  our  way  to  the  monastery  concern- 
ing the  Buddhist  and  the  Burmese  view  of  life,  and  he  had 
assured  me  that  many  of  the  Burmese,  in  spite  of  their  gay 
exterior,  were  sad  at  heart;  and  that  for  his  own  part,  life 
seemed  to  him  a  rather  dreary  thing.  When  we  reached  the 
monastery  and  I  had  asked  my  question  about  Nirvana,  the 
monk  defined  it  as  a  state  where  there  is  no  more  birth,  old 
age,  or  death.  The  boy  then  added,  of  his  own  motion,  that 
Nirvana  is  equivalent  to  being  totally  dead;  that  it  is  as  if  the 
death  of  the  body  ended  it  all  —  except,  of  course,  that  Nir- 
vana can  be  attained  only  after  a  series  of  lives.  When  the 
monk  learned  what  the  boy  had  said  he  corrected  him,  insisting 
that  we  cannot  possibly  know  so  much  as  this.  Nirvana,  he 
added,  may  have  a  kind  of  consciousness,  and  may  contain  a 
great  deal  of  which  we  are  entirely  ignorant  and  at  which  we 
cannot  even  guess.  All  we  know  is  that  it  is  the  end  of  birth, 
old  age,  and  death,  the  end  of  lust,  ill-will,  and  ignorance.  It 

377 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

is  like  a  house  of  which  we  see  the  outside  only  and  not  the 
inside.  We  know  the  way  thither,  but  what  is  within  we  can- 
not tell.  The  boy  was  obviously  much  impressed  by  this  view 
and  said  this  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  heard  such  a  de- 
scription of  Nirvana.  On  our  walk  back  from  the  monastery 
he  returned  to  the  subject  and  dwelt  upon  it  long  and  thought- 
fully. The  possibility  that  Nirv^ana  might  be  in  any  sense  con- 
scious instead  of  blank  non-existence  came  to  him,  he  said, 
with  unhoped-for  comfort.  Hitherto  it  had  seemed  to  him  (for 
so  he  had  always  been  taught)  that  conscious  existence  inevi- 
tably involved  suffering,  and  Hfe  had  seemed  to  him  necessarily 
melancholy.  He  had  longed  for  Nirvana  as  complete  cessation 
of  existence  and  the  only  possible  escape.  But  if  conscious  life 
was  really  possible  without  sorrow,  he  would  welcome  it  eagerly. 
And  he  added,  "The  Lord  Buddha  must  have  known  what 
was  in  Nirvana;  and  why  did  he  not  tell  us?  If  he  only  had 
told  us  it  would  have  made  ever>^thing  so  much  easier  and  life 
so  much  happier!"  I  did  not  venture  to  suggest  that  possibly 
the  Lord  Buddha  himself  did  not  know.  I  only  pointed  out 
that  the  teaching  of  Christianity  was  in  some  way  similar  to 
what  the  monk  had  said,  and  that  it  held  out  the  hope  of  a 
continued  existence  of  strenuous  endeavor  and  achievement, 
free  from  most  of  the  fetters  that  bind  us  here.  The  boy  re- 
sponded, "Christianity  is  certainly  very  much  more  comfort- 
ing than  Buddhism,  and  if  I  only  could  believe  it  true  I  would 
be  glad  to  accept  it.   But  the  question  is,  Is  it  true?'' 

None  of  the  Buddhists  whom  I  questioned  in  either  Burma 
or  Ceylon  had  any  hope  of  attaining  to  Nirvana  in  the  next 
incarnation,  and  none  of  them  except  Mr.  Dharmapala  and 
his  brother  Mr.  Hewavitama  (the  leaders  of  the  Maha-Bodhi 
movement)  made  any  reference  to  the  common  view  of  the 
Pitakas  that  Nirvana  may  be  attained  in  this  life.  Instead  of 
adopting  this  orthodox  Buddhist  view  the  Burmese  Buddhists 
put  off  the  hour  of  the  attainability  of  Nirvana  to  the  indefi- 
nite distant  future,  and  all  my  Ceylonese  acquaintances,  with 
the  two  exceptions  named  above,  said  very  definitely  that  no 
man  now  living  could  attain  to  Nirvana  before  the  coming  of 
Maitreya  Buddha  —  which  some  placed  about  twenty-five 
hundred  years  from  now,  and  others  at  an  indefinitely  later 
378 


THE  DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

period.  Mr.  Kenneth  Saunders,  whose  knowledge  of  both 
Singhalese  and  Burmese  Buddhism  is  ver>'  extensive,  testifies 
that  he  never  met  or  heard  of  any  Buddhist  who  expected  to 
attain  Nirvana  in  his  next  birth,  and  none  of  the  respondents 
to  his  Ceylonese  Questionnaire  had  ever  heard  of  any.  This 
is  rather  surprising  considering  the  unmistakable  teaching  of 
the  Pitakas  that  Nir\'ana  is  attainable  in  this  life.  Subhadra's 
"Catechism,"  which  adopts  this  latter  view,  makes  a  distinc- 
tion (based  on  the  Pitakas)  between  the  Nir\'ana  which  one 
may  attain  in  this  life,  and  the  state  which  follows  upon  the 
death  of  one  who  has  attained  Nirvana,  a  state  which  it  dis- 
tinguishes by  the  name  "Parinirvana."  I  shall  close  our  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject  by  three  quotations  from  this  authori- 
tative Httle  book:  — 

"Nir\-ana  is  a  state  of  mind  and  heart  in  which  all  desire  for 
life  or  annihilation,  all  egoistic  craving  has  become  extinct, 
and  with  ever>'  passion,  every  grasping  desire,  ever\-  fear,  all 
ill-will,  and  every  sorrow.  It  is  a  state  of  perfect  inward  peace, 
accompanied  by  the  imperturbable  certainty  of  having  at- 
tained deliverance,  a  state  words  cannot  describe,  and  which 
the  imagination  of  the  worldling  tries  in  vain  to  picture  to  him- 
self. Only  one  who  has  himself  experienced  it  knows  what 
Nirvana  is." 

"The  individuality'  continues  to  appear  in  constantly  recur- 
ring embodiments  until  perfect  wisdom  and  moral  purification, 
Nir\-ana,  are  attained.  Then  after  the  death  of  the  last  body 
it  becomes  totally  extinct  in  Parinirvana."  "Parinirvana,  in 
the  sense  of  other  religions  and  of  scientific  materialism,  is, 
indeed,  total  annihilation,  complete  dissolution  of  the  individ- 
uality, for  nothing  remains  in  Parinir\-ana  which  in  any  way 
corresponds  to  the  human  conception  oj  existence.  But  from  the 
point  of  view  of  one  who  has  attained  to  the  state  of  the  Araha 
[i.e.,  to  Nirvana,  in  this  life],  it  is  rather  the  world  with  all 
its  phenomena  which  is  'nothingness,'  a  reflected  image,  an 
iridescent  bubble,  a  terrifying  dream;  and  Parinirvana  is  the 
entrance  into  real  existence,  into  the  eternal,  unchangeable, 
imperishable,  where  there  is  no  diversity,  no  strife,  and  no 
suffering." 

"It  is  not  possible  to  form  any  idea  of  Parinirvana:  it  is 
379 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

beyond  all  knowledge,  beyond  all  conception.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  it  is  or  that  it  is  not,  because  no  forms  of  existence  are 
applicable  to  Parinirvana.  One  can  only  say  it  is  final  eman- 
cipation, the  complete  extinction  of  individuality  —  eternal 
rest  and  peace.  'There  is,  O  disciples,  a  state  where  there  is 
neither  earth  nor  water,  neither  air  nor  light,  neither  infinity 
of  space  nor  infinity  of  time,  neither  any  form  of  existence  nor 
nothingness,  neither  perception  nor  non-perception,  neither 
this  world  nor  that  world.  There  there  is  neither  coming  into 
existence  nor  decay,  neither  birth  nor  death,  neither  cause  nor 
effect,  neither  change  nor  stability.  There  is,  O  disciples,  an 
unborn,  unoriginated,  uncreated,  unformed.  Were  there  not, 
there  would  be  no  escape  from  the  world  of  the  born,  origi- 
nated, created,  formed.'  Thus  sayeth  the  Master."  i 

Whatever  this  may  mean,  it  is  evident  that  the  Buddha, 
who  long  ago  passed  into  Parinirvana,  is  far  removed  from 
this  world  of  ours,  out  of  earshot  of  all  our  prayers,  out  of  sight 
of  all  our  offerings,  and  can  neither  influence  us  nor  be  influ- 
enced by  us.  As  the  monk  in  Galle  put  it,  "Buddha  finish." 
That  being  the  case,  the  important  and  practical  question 
arises.  Of  what  use  are  worship,  prayer,  and  offering? 

Most  Buddhist  laymen,  I  suppose,  have  no  answer  to  this 
question  and  no  explicit  theory  about  it.  Their  position  is  that 
of  one  of  their  number  with  whom  I  used  to  talk  in  Mandalay. 
He  told  me  first  that  Buddha  is  in  Nirvana  and  knows  nothing 
of  our  prayers  and  praises.  Then  I  asked  him  whether  he 
prayed  to  Buddha  for  definite  things,  such  as  success  in  busi- 
ness, and  he  answered,  Yes.  I  asked  whether  he  thought  these 
prayers  were  answered  and  he  said  he  supposed  so.    When, 

1  Pages  22,  6i,and  37  of  the  Catechism.  I  add  here  the  definition  of 
Nirvana  given  in  Colonel  Olcott's  Catechism  (p.  33):  "Nirvana  is  a  condi- 
tion of  total  cessation  of  changes;  of  perfect  rest:  of  the  absence  of  desire 
and  illusion  and  sorrow:  of  the  total  obliteration  of  everything  that  goes 
to  make  up  the  physical  man." 

Paul  Carus's  Gospel  of  Buddha  does  not  seek,  as  the  two  Catechisms  do, 
to  give  a  systematic  presentation  of  Buddhist  doctrines,  but  (following  the 
example  of  the  evangelists  rather  than  that  of  the  Westminster  divines) 
aims  to  present  the  teachings  of  the  founder  in  his  own  words  or  in  conscien- 
tious paraphrases  of  them.  Hence  from  this  textbook  of  Buddhism  we  get 
only  the  general  teaching  of  Gautama  himself,  that  Nirvana  means  "extinc- 
tion of  illusion,"  etc.,  and  beyond  that  only  silence  on  the  question  whether 
it  is  a  final  extinction  of  personality. 

380 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

then,  I  asked  how  he  could  make  this  consistent  with  his  view 
of  the  inaccessibiHty  of  Buddha,  and  how  he  accounted  for  the 
effectiveness  of  his  prayers,  he  said  he  did  n't  know.  He  saw 
the  inconsistency  plainly,  and  said  his  prayers  were  not  due  to 
any  theory'  on  the  subject,  but  merely  to  a  habit  which  he  had 
acquired  in  childhood,  from  his  parents. 

Buddhists  less  learned  in  their  religion  than  he,  of  course, 
have  no  such  logical  difficulties  to  face.  Those  who  regard  the 
Buddha  practically  as  a  god,  living  in  heaven  and  hearing 
prayer,  naturally  pray  to  him.  And  this  I  may  call  the  first  of 
three  theories  of  prayer  which  one  finds  implicit  among  the 
Buddhists.  The  almost  irrepressible  human  demand  for  help 
when  human  help  fails  forces  many  a  Buddhist  to  turn  in 
prayer  to  the  Blessed  One,  even  if  he  has  learned  from  some 
monk  that  petition  to  the  Buddha  is  vain.  Fielding  Hall  re- 
ports such  a  prayer  bursting  from  the  heart  of  a  mother  for 
the  recovery  of  her  first  bom.  And  Saunders,  in  reporting  the 
answers  to  his  Ceylonese  Questionnaire,  says  of  the  Singhalese 
women:  "It  is  they  who  frequent  the  temples,  coming  with 
simple  offerings  of  flowers  and  a  pathetic  wish  or  prayer,  '  May 
I  be  bom  beautiful  as  these  in  my  next  life ! '  Or  one  may  be 
seen  offering  strands  of  her  hair  and  ejaculating,  'May  I  be 
bom  with  hair  long  and  lustrous!'  Or  again  a  pregnant  woman 
will  offer  white  or  yellow  flowers  hoping  to  have  a  fair  child."  ^ 

Those  who  accept  the  doctrine  that  petitions  to  the  Buddha 
are  useless  are  not,  however,  thereby  deprived  of  the  use  of 
prayer.  For  the  nats  or  devatas  stand  always  ready,  and  they 
are  easily  to  be  influenced  by  petitions  and  promises.  For  this 
reason  some  of  these  lower  beings  assume  in  the  worship  of  a 
large  part  of  the  laity  a  much  more  important  position  than 
the  Buddha  himself.  It  is  the  old  story  of  the  "high  gods  of 
low  peoples"  to  which  Andrew  Lang  and  others  have  drawn 
attention.  The  shrine  of  the  deva  of  Adams  Peak  is  much  more 
popular  than  that  of  the  Buddha  on  its  summit:  for  the  deva, 
as  ever>-  one  knows,  can  hear  and  answer  pra>'er  and  may  be 
influenced  by  the  promise  of  an  offering,  not  to  say  a  bribe; 
whereas  the  Buddha  —  he  is  in  NirN'ana !  Nor  is  it  the  igno- 
rant layman  alone  who  makes  prayers  and  offerings  to  the  lower 
'  Buddhist  Ideals,  Appendix,  p.  134. 
381 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

spirits.  Several  of  the  monks  of  my  acquaintance  do  the  same, 
and  the  learned  monk  I  found  in  the  Galle  Vihara  told  me  of 
the  most  approved  way  of  doing  it.  One  makes  a  request  to 
the  deva  and  promises  that  if  it  is  granted  an  offering  will  be 
made  to  the  Buddha  and  the  merit  from  this  offering  will  be 
handed  over  to  the  deva  —  for  devas  are  in  as  great  need  of 
merit  as  we,  and  merit  (as  we  shall  see)  is  transferable.  This, 
the  monk  assured  me,  however,  was  not  to  be  regarded  as  re- 
ligion, but  merely  as  business.  It  was,  he  said,  like  making  a 
contract  with  Government.  Religion  has  to  do  with  the 
Teacher. 

The  strictly  logical  Buddhist  view,  of  course,  makes  peti- 
tional  prayer  quite  useless.  And  this  is  what  we  may  call  the 
second  theory.  Gautama  himself  held  this  view,  and  in  illus- 
tration of  it  once  said  to  a  Brahmin:  "What  would  you  think 
if  this  stream  were  swollen  up  to  the  edge  and  a  man  whose 
business  called  him  to  the  other  side  came  up  here  and  shouted 
out:  'Come  over  here,  O  thou  other  shore!  Come  over  to  my 
side!'  What  would  you  think?  Would  all  his  calling  and  pray- 
ing and  beseeching  and  hoping  bring  over  to  him  here  that 
other  shore?  Even  like  this  man  are  you  Brahmins  when  ye 
say:  '  Indra,  we  call  to  Thee!  Soma,  Varuna,  Brahman,  we  call 
to  Thee!'  "^  In  similar  vein  a  monk  in  the  Gangarama  Vihara, 
near  Kandy,  said  to  me:  "You  Christians  believe  in  'God'  and 
pray  to  him.  That  is  like  children  crying  out  in  a  storm.  You 
are  trusting  to  something  you  know  nothing  about.  We  Bud- 
dhists do  nothing  of  the  kind,  —  we  rely  on  ourselves  alone." 

This  second,  and  logical,  Buddhist  view  of  prayer,  of  course, 
does  away  only  with  petition:  other  forms  of  worship  are  reg- 
ularly practiced  —  and  consistently  —  by  the  most  logical 
monks.  They  make  no  prayers  in  the  sense  of  petitions,  but 
they  recite  every  day  certain  texts  of  praise  to  the  Buddha  and 
of  consecration  of  themselves.  With  a  few  these  praises  are 
genuine  outbursts  of  gratitude  to  the  Great  Teacher,  long 
since  passed  away,  who  showed  the  Path  of  Escape  from  sorrow. 
But  this  spontaneous  outburst  of  gratitude  is  probably  very 
uncommon.  The  whole  Buddhist  training  is  against  impulse 
and  cultivates  a  colder  and  more  reasoning  action.    Most  of 

»  Quoted  by  Dahlke,  Buddhist  Essays  (London,  Macmillan,  1908),  p.  142. 
382 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

those  who  accept  what  I  call  the  second  theory-  of  prayer  per- 
form their  worship  for  a  very  definite  reason.  They  do  it  (and 
this  is  an  interesting  point)  consciously  and  deliberately  for 
the  sake  of  its  good  subjective  effects  upon  themselves.  A 
monk  in  Rangoon  said  to  me,  "Prayer  and  offering  are  not 
received  by  the  Buddha  in  the  sense  that  they  have  any  effect 
upon  him,  nor  in  the  sense  of  being  means  of  procuring  any- 
thing from  him.  Their  value  is  subjective  purely.  A  prayer 
for  purity  or  peace  is  likely  to  bring  about  its  own  fulfillment, 
especially  if  accompanied  by  the  thought  of  the  Buddha  as  our 
ideal.  The  Buddha,  indeed,  is  for  our  practical  purposes  quite 
dead,  but  he  is  the  ideal  of  what  humanity  might  be  and  of 
what  each  one  of  us  ought  to  be.  Thus  prayer  for  the  enlight- 
ened Buddhist  is  not  supplication,  but  mental  discipline."  ^ 

In  like  manner  the  offerings  which  the  strictly  logical  Bud- 
dhist makes  are  in  part  performed  out  of  gratitude  to  the  Mas- 
ter and  as  a  mark  of  honor  to  him,  just  as  we  put  flowers,  year 
after  year,  on  the  graves  of  those  we  have  loved  long  ago;  in 
part  the  offerings  like  the  "prayers"  are  made  for  their  subjec- 
tive effect  upon  the  worshiper  and  upon  all  those  who  see  them. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  flowers.  Flowers  are  used  not 
merely  for  the  sake  of  their  beauty  as  a  gift  on  the  shrine  of 
the  Blessed  One.  Their  fading  in  the  shrine  and  the  subsequent 
necessity  of  casting  them  out  to  wither  and  disintegrate  is  an 
integral  part  of  the  ceremony  and  one  of  the  aims  of  the  offer- 
ing. For  this  should  keep  the  worshiper  ever  in  mind  of  the 
fact  that  as  these  beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers  wither,  so 
must  his  body  and  the  most  beautiful  human  bodies  die  and 
decay,  in  this  world  where  all  is  transitory. 

But  there  is  a  third  theory  of  prayer  and  offering  which  is  a 
compromise  between  the  two  others,  and  which  is  interesting 
as  being  particularly  Buddhistic.    It  is  a  kind  of  extension  of 

1  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  two  "prayers" 
which  all  Buddhists  are  supix)sed  to  recite  at  daybreak  and  bed-time  every 
day  are  the  "  Refuge  "  and  the  "  Five  Precepts  "  (see  pp.  345  and  348 
above.)  Although  these  are  recited  in  Pali,  their  meaning,  according  to 
Mr.  Maung  Tha  Kin,  is  pretty  generally  understood  by  the  common  peo- 
ple. Hence  we  may  suppose  that  the  recitation,  especially  of  the  Five 
Precepts,  exerts  some  real  moral  influence  upon  the  life  of  the  modern 
Buddhist.  See  Mr.  Kin's  paf>er  on  "  The  Profession  of  Faith "  in  the 
Buddhist  Review  for  April- June,  1915. 

383 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

the  subjective  view  of  prayer  —  an  effort  to  retain  the  sub- 
jective view  and  at  the  same  time  get  the  advantages  of  the 
objective  view  by  applying  ethical  and  psychological  categories 
to  the  universe.  The  monk  in  Rangoon  said  to  me:  "An  in- 
tense wish,  when  accompanied  by  an  offering  or  by  merit  of 
any  kind,  will  tend  to  bring  about  its  own  satisfaction,  —  either 
in  this  life  or  in  another.  This  is  plainly  true  of  spiritual  things 
—  as  the  desire  for  purity  or  peace.  But  it  is  also  true  of  physi- 
cal and  worldly  things.  Thus,  if  I  desire  wealth  and  pray  for 
it,  accompanying  my  prayer  with  an  offering  to  the  Buddha 
(for  this  is  a  way  of  acquiring  merit),  my  desire  is  likely  to  be 
satisfied  in  this  life  or  another." 

I  think  this  theory  of  prayer  is  the  one  most  commonly  held 
by  the  intelligent  monk.  The  Buddhist  is  persuaded  that  this 
is  essentially  a  moral  universe;  a  universe  in  which  the  law  of 
Karma  —  which  is  a  moral  rather  than  a  merely  physical  law  — 
reigns  supreme.  A  good  act,  he  is  persuaded,  can  never  fail 
of  its  reward,  nor  an  evil  one  of  its  punishment  —  except,  of 
course,  in  the  sense  that  the  two  may  balance  each  other  as 
debits  and  credits  in  the  cash  account  of  the  universe.  He  is 
certain  that  the  Buddha  cannot  hear  or  answer  prayer,  yet, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  is  equally  sure  that  prayer  and  offering 
to  the  Buddha  are  infallible  means  of  acquiring  merit  and  will 
be  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness,  and  that  this  righteous- 
ness can  in  no  wise  lose  its  reward.  Hence  the  prayer  or  recita- 
tion of  the  sacred  text  must  have  a  value  and  a  power  of  its 
own;  it  must  work  automatically  and  start  forces  going  in  the 
universe  which  will  in  then-  own  good  time  have  the  desired 
effect  upon  his  destiny. 

It  may  very  well  seem  odd  to  the  reader  that,  in  all  these 
pages  which  I  have  already  devoted  to  Buddhism,  not  a  word 
has  been  said  of  what  undoubtedly  is  the  very  heart  of  the 
Buddha's  teaching—  the  "Four  Noble  Truths"  of  sorrow  and 
salvation.  This  omission,  or  rather  delay,  has  been  quite 
intentional;  for  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  though  fundamental 
in  the  philosophy  of  Buddhism,  play  a  less  important  part  in 
the  religion  of  the  people  than  do  prayers  and  offerings,  hopes 
and  moral  customs.  But  the  Four  Noble  Truths  are  of  great 
indirect  importance  even  to  the  popular  religion,  and  must  be 
384 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

dealt  with  carefully  before  we  can  understand  Buddhism  or 
form  a  just  opinion  as  to  its  value. 

The  First  Noble  Truth  was  expressed  by  Gautama  himself 
in  the  following  words:  "Birth  is  suffering,  old  age  is  suffering, 
disease  is  suffering,  death  is  suffering:  painful  is  it  to  be  joined 
to  that  which  we  do  not  like:  painful  is  separation  from  that 
which  we  do  like.  In  brief:  all  the  five  Aspects  of  Existence  are 
suffering."  ^  The  repeated  emphasis  laid  upon  the  fact  of  suf- 
fering in  the  discourses  of  the  Buddha,  and  the  fidelity  with 
which  his  teaching  of  it  has  been  handed  on  and  imitated,  have 
given  Buddhism  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  pessimistic 
of  religions.  Buddhists  who  read  European  books  on  their 
religion  are  becoming  to-day  very  sensitive,  not  to  say  touchy, 
on  this  subject.  You  may  criticize  Buddhism  to  a  Buddhist  on 
other  points,  but  it  is  best  not  to  tell  him  that  his  religion  is 
pessimistic.  Buddhism,  we  are  assured,  is  in  truth  the  most 
optimistic  of  religions.  It  merely  points  out  the  undoubted  facts 
of  sorrow  which  ever\'  religion  and  ever\'  philosophy  must  rec- 
ognize, and  then  it  goes  on  to  show  the  way  of  escape.  I  cull 
the  following  sentences  from  an  article  in  the  "Buddhist  Re- 
view" for  June,  1912,  entitled  "The  Optimism  of  Buddhism": 
"Buddhism  recognizes  sorrow,  recognizes  evil,  but  it  does  not 
say,  'Blessed  are  the  sorrowful.'  It  teaches  that  sorrow  and 
evil  are  things  to  be  recognized,  but  also  to  be  grappled  with 
and  escaped  from.  It  does  not  teach  that  man  is  but  a  worm, 
that  his  troubles  and  trials  are  a  rod  sent  for  the  purposes  of 
chastisement  and  that  if  he  would  know  true  happiness  he  must 
kiss  the  rod.  .  .  .  Buddhism  is  a  religion  not  of  passivity  but 
of  activity,  and  it  is  a  continual  endeavor  to  escape  from  evil. 
.  .  .  Buddhism  is  opposed  to  pessimism,  the  gospel  of  feeble- 
ness and  failure,  at  ever>'  step  of  the  way."  ^ 

All  this  is  undoubtedly  true.  Buddhism  recognizes  the  evils 
of  life  only  that  it  may  arouse  us  to  save  ourselves  from  them. 
It  is  a  religion  of  activity  and  effort  and  courage,  not  one  of 
weakness  and  surrender.  And  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that 
there  is  more  ground  for  the  common  view  of  the  pessimistic 

*  From  Sutta  22  of  the  Digha  Nikaya. 

*  See  also  another  article  to  the  same  effect  by  "Captain  Enriquez, 
F.R.G.S.,"  in  the  Buddhist  Review  for  December,  1914. 

385 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

nature  of  Buddhism  than  the  above  quotation  would  imply. 
Buddhism  is  founded  upon  a  recognition  of  the  sorrows  of  life 
in  a  way  that  no  other  religion  is.^  It  was  not  by  chance,  but 
as  a  result  of  very  logical  thinking,  that  the  Buddha  began  his 
first  sermon  —  and  many  another  sermon  —  with  the  Noble 
Truth  of  Suffering  which  I  have  quoted  above.  It  is  necessary 
to  realize  that  life  is  very  evil  —  much  more  evil  than  good  — 
if  you  are  to  be  converted  to  Buddhism.  This  is  fundamental, 
for  without  this  realization  you  will  have  no  wish  for  the  sal- 
vation which  the  Buddha  offers.  "One  thing  only,"  said  he  to 
his  disciples,  —  "one  thing  only  do  I  make  known:  suffering 
and  deliverance  from  suffering."  And  a  recent  writer  in  the 
"Buddhist  Review"  adds:  "The  question  of  deliverance  from 
suffering  seems  to  the  Buddha  of  such  great,  of  such  command- 
ing importance  for  the  welfare  of  all  beings  that,  in  the  last 
analysis,  he  considers  this  problem  the  only  one  really  worthy 
of  solution."  2 

And  this  view  of  the  sorrow  of  life  is  so  fundamental  in  the 
Buddha's  teaching  that  it  has  colored  the  professional  Bud- 
dhist world.  Nearly  all  the  monks  with  whom  I  talked  assured 
me  that  life  was  very  dreary  and  existence  necessarily  sorrow- 
ful, and  that  they  would  like  to  be  rid  of  it  and  enter  Nirvana. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  a  large  proportion  of  these  monks 
consider  Nirvana  to  be  equivalent  to  absolute  death,  it  will 
be  seen  that  their  view  of  life  is  hardly  optimistic.  The  con- 
fession of  the  boy  in  Rangoon  concerning  his  views  of  life  and 
Nirvana,  recited  a  few  pages  back,  should  be  recalled  in  this 
connection.  Neither  the  Burmese  nor  the  Singhalese  are  nat- 
urally a  melancholy  race,  but  the  monks  have  learned  from 
Buddhism  that  they  should  at  least  try  to  regard  the  world  as 

»  One  of  the  most  enthusiastic  of  Buddhist  converts,  Paul  Dahlke,  writes: 
"For  the  Buddhist,  the  highest  is  something  quite  different  from  what  it 
is  for  the  adherent  of  another  religion.  The  Buddhist's  goal  is  not  heaven, 
union  with  any  deity;  it  is  freedom  from  pain.  Only  in  Buddhism  does  the 
conception  of  freedom  from  pain  remain  purely  a  negative  thing.  Buddhism 
is  the  only  one  among  all  the  religions  of  the  world  that  is  based  upon  nega- 
tion, yea,  is  negation.  Hence  it  has  value  solely  for  such  as  seek  the  door 
out  of  life:  in  fact,  Buddhism  is  nothing  else  but  the  way  to  this  door." 
(Buddhist  Essays,  pp.  47-48.) 

»  Nyana  Tiloka,  "The  Quintessence  of  Buddhism,"  Buddhist  Review  for 
January,  1914. 

386 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

bad  and  its  pleasures  worthless  and  cultivate  a  taste  for  Nir- 
vana. An  interesting  light  was  shed  on  the  matter  for  me  by 
one  of  the  Mandalay  monks,  who,  when  I  asked  whether  he 
really  thought  life  so  very  evil  and  really  longed  for  the  non- 
existence of  Nirvana,  replied:  "Yes,  I  do  during  meditation. 
I  then  realize  the  evil  of  life  and  long  to  be  free  of  it.  But  at 
other  times,  —  when  conversing  or  eating,  for  instance,  —  I 
forget  what  I  realized  in  meditation.  At  such  times  life  seems 
good  and  I  don't  want  to  give  it  up;  and  so  for  a  time  I  become 
a  bad  Buddhist." 

Buddhism  differs  from  other  religions  in  its  view  of  life,  not 
in  recognizing  the  presence  of  evil,  but  in  insisting  that  all 
change  and  impermanence  are  evil,  and  that  therefore  our 
changing  existence  is  necessarily  and  thoroughly  bad.  Not 
only  is  sorrow  bad  in  itself,  but  pleasure  is  not  really  good, 
even  while  it  lasts,  because  it  cannot  last  forever.  It  ends  in 
sorrow  and  life  ends  in  death.  He  who  is  a  mere  creature  of 
circumstance,  passing  from  temporary  pleasure  to  loss  and 
grief,  tossed  about  at  the  mercy  of  his  emotions  and  never 
the  master  of  them,  is  surely  a  pitiful  figure.  Is  there  no  refuge 
from  sorrow  that  one  can  count  on;  no  method  of  escape  that 
depends  not  on  external  chance  but  on  ourselves? 

The  Buddha  goes  at  the  question  as  no  other  founder  of  a 
religion  ever  did.  His  method  and  spirit  are  essentially  scien- 
tific. He  appeals  to  no  supernatural  power,  and  makes  use  of 
no  blind  faith.  Instead  of  this  he  asks  first  of  all,  What  are 
the  symptoms  of  our  common  disease?  and  secondly,  What  is 
the  cause  of  these  s>'mptoms?  And  the  answer  to  this  second 
question  he  announces  in  the  Second  Noble  Truth.  The  cause 
of  suffering  is  always  desire.  We  are  unhappy  because  we  have 
not  got  —  and  cannot  get  —  what  we  want.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  conclusion  of  his  was  at  first  an  empirical  judgment, 
and  that  in  a  very  great  many  cases  it  can  be  tested  and  veri- 
fied by  an  appeal  to  experience.  But  experience  cannot  verify 
it  in  all  cases.  How,  for  instance,  shall  I  explain  an  inherited 
and  painful  disease  as  the  result  of  desire?  If,  indeed,  I  could 
cease  to  desire  to  get  rid  of  pain,  pain  would  cease  to  be  an 
evil.  But  even  so  the  pain  antedated  the  desire,  hence  cannot 
have  been  caused  by  it.  Yet  Gautama  believed  that  his  formula 
387 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

would  apply  to  such  cases  as  this  also,  and  that  even  here  de- 
sire was  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  pain.  The  disease,  he  said, 
is  due  to  the  man's  desire  and  ignorance  in  a  previous  existence. 
Thus,  without  realizing  the  fact,  he  mingled  an  adopted  Brah- 
manical  belief  with  his  own  empirical  discovery. 

The  Third  Noble  Truth  makes  the  obvious  application  of 
the  second  —  namely,  that  by  overcoming  desire  we  may  avoid 
sorrow  —  and  extends  this  obvious  application  by  asserting 
(again  in  part  upon  the  strength  of  the  prevalent  Indian  doc- 
trine of  Karma)  that  continued  rebirth  may  be  prevented  by 
killing  out  the  will-to-live,  which  is  at  the  basis  of  all  our  ills. 
The  most  important  part  of  the  Buddha's  doctrine,  however, 
was  always  that  relating  to  this  life,  and  based  upon  his  own 
empirical  discover^-.  "The  Bhagava  has  well  preached  the 
Dhamma,  productive  of  immediate  results  in  this  life,  of  im- 
mediate results  that  can  be  pointed  out  to  any  one  by  asking 
him  to  come  and  see."  ^ 

The  method  by  which  we  may  kill  out  desire  and  the  will-to- 
live,  and  rid  ourselves  of  the  three  great  fetters  of  lust,  anger, 
and  spiritual  blindness,  is  given  in  detail  in  the  Fourth  Noble 
Truth,  called  also  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path.  This  is  in  fact  a 
method  of  mental  training,  a  systematic  manner  of  life  which 
if  diligently  followed  will  gradually  weed  out  the  worldly 
wishes,  and  substitute  for  the  hot  desire  after  personal  enjoy- 
ment the  calm,  self-possessed  character  of  the  man  who  is  his 
own  master  and  may  laugh  at  Fate,  just  because  he  has  learned 
to  despise  all  the  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  Fortune. 

This  is  the  Buddhist  method  of  salvation;  this  was  the 
Buddha's  great  discover>^  He  came  to  it,  a  Buddhist  friend  of 
mine  suggests,  by  a  knowledge  of  child  psychology.  For  years 
he  had  been  searching  for  peace  and  freedom  from  the  power 
of  fortune.  He  had  tried  religion  with  its  ceremonies  and 
prayers  and  faith,  he  had  tried  philosophy,  and  he  had  tried 
asceticism.  All  had  failed.  Then,  casting  his  thoughts  back 
over  the  course  of  his  life,  he  asked  himself  when  in  the  whole 
of  it  he  had  been  really  without  care.  And  he  saw  that  his  one 
really  free  and  happy  time  had  been  as  a  young  child.  Then, 
analyzing  out  of  the  child's  mental  condition  that  element 
1  Anguttara  Nikaya,  ill,  li,  40" 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

which  determined  its  freedom  from  care,  he  saw  that  this  was 
its  lack  of  self-consciousness  and  individualit>\  The  baby  does 
not  say,  "This  is  mine!  I  own  that!  I  plan  thus  and  so!"  And 
hence  it  is  at  peace. 

Whether  the  Buddha  ever  went  through  any  such  course  of 
thought  as  my  friend  suggests,  he  certainly  beKeved  —  as  his 
orthodox  followers  do  to-day  —  that  the  obstacle  to  real  self- 
mastery  and  perfect  peace,  as  well  as  the  source  of  most  sor- 
row and  most  sin,  is  to  be  found  in  the  over-emphasis  upon  the 
ego.  "  Tis  self  whereby  we  suffer."  i  The  man  who  has  learned 
to  deny  himself,  to  put  aside  all  egoistic  aims,  and  to  look  down 
upon  all  personal  pleasures,  is  the  man  who  may  snap  his  fin- 
gers at  Fate,  because  he  has  found  a  peace  which  the  world 
can  never  give  nor  take  away.  "To  understand  that,  after 
all,  it  is  the  individuality-,  with  its  wants  and  desires  opposed 
to  those  of  other  individualities,  which  causes  all  suffering  in 
the  world,  that  therefore  the  striving  for  individual  happiness 
is  according  to  its  very  nature  WTong,  and  that  it  is  best  to 
relinquish  it  voluntarily  —  that  is  to  take  a  great  step,  yea, 
the  greatest,  on  the  road  to  true  knowledge."^  "The  craving 
for  life  is  the  worst  of  all  diseases,"  says  the  Dhammapada, 
"individuality  is  the  greatest  of  all  evils.  He  w'ho  knows  this 
truly  sees  in  Nir\'ana  the  highest  bliss."  It  was  for  this  reason 
that  the  Buddha  laid  so  much  stress  on  what  would  seem  a 
purely  academic  question,  the  non-existence  of  a  substantial 
self.  The  self  we  love  in  self-love  is  only  a  delusion,  and  from 
this  delusion,  this  ignorance,  springs  all  our  woe.  He  whose 
eyes  have  been  opened  to  the  truth  sees  that  the  so-called 
"  self  "  is  a  mere  stream  of  passing  and  perishing  psycho-physical 
phenomena;  and  there  being  for  him  no  more  delusion  of  self, 
all  selfish  interests  with  their  feverish  brood  of  desires,  disap- 
pointments, sins,  and  sorrows  vanish  away,  and  only  the  great 
Peace,  with  its  new  kind  of  joy  that  cannot  wane,  is  left  behind. 

It  will  thus  be  evident  that  the  salvation  which  the  Buddha 
offers  is  different  in  kind  from  that  which  the  followers  of 
most  other  religions  seek  after.   It  is  not  a  life  of  happiness  in 

1  Cf.  Rhys-Davids's  admirable  adaptation  of  Symonds's  lines,  in  Bud- 
dhism (American  Lectures,  Putnam,  1904),  p.  152. 
*  Subhadra  Bhikshu's  Buddhist  Catechism,  p.  69. 

389 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

some  distant  heaven  that  we  are  to  go  to  after  we  die;  it  is  a 
new  character  that  may  be  won  here  and  now.  We  all  know 
the  two  types  of  people  whom  the  Buddha  would  recognize 
as  the  lost  and  the  saved.  One  clings  to  life  and  its  pleasure, 
hot  with  desires,  lusting  and  robust,  perhaps,  or  it  may  be  even 
sickly,  but  always  desiring,  greedy  of  good  things,  filled  with 
will  and  self-assertion;  the  other  quiet,  seeking  little  or  nothing, 
ready  for  anything,  with  no  intense  pains,  pleasures,  or  long- 
ings, neither  wishing  for  life  nor  fearing  death.  To  change  from 
the  first  type  to  the  second  is  the  Buddha's  way  of  salvation. 
And  it  is  not  merely  the  way  of  salvation:  it  is  salvation  itself. 
The  new  character  acquired  through  the  long  course  of  self- 
training  outlined  in  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path  means  peace 
and  freedom  from  care  and  an  equipoise  of  mind  which  bid 
defiance  to  the  thousand  frets  of  ordinary  life.  Gautama  may 
be  said  to  have  anticipated  the  "Don't  worry  cure":  and  his 
message  and  method  might  come  as  a  great  boon  to  our  hus- 
tling and  neurotic  age.  The  common  expression,  "Blessed  be 
nothing,"  the  Buddha  meant  quite  literally.  If  you  have  noth- 
ing and  want  nothing  you  will  be  blessed.  For  sorrow  comes 
just  from  having  and  wanting.  In  all  literalness,  it  is  easier 
for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich 
man  to  enter  the  Buddhist  Nirvana.  But  if  you  give  up  all 
your  possessions  and  all  thought  of  ever  having  any  and  cut 
all  the  ties  that  bind  you  to  this  world,  there  will  be  little  left 
to  sorrow  or  worry  over.  Don't  be  afraid,  says  the  Buddha, 
for  there  is  really  nothing  worth  fearing.  The  only  thing  worthy 
of  fear  is  slavery;  and  you  may  break  your  own  bonds  if  you 
only  will. 

"In  him  who  has  intercourse  with  others  affections  arise, 
and  then  the  pain  which  follows  affection:  considering  the 
misery  that  originates  in  affection,  let  one  wander  alone  like 
a  rhinoceros. 

"Seeing  bright  golden  bracelets,  well-wrought  by  the  gold- 
smith, striking  against  each  other  when  there  are  two  on  one 
arm,  let  one  wander  alone  like  a  rhinoceros. 

"Thus,  if  I  join  myself  with  another  I  shall  swear  or  scold: 
considering  this  danger  in  future,  let  one  wander  alone  like  a 
rhinoceros. 

390 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

"The  sensual  pleasures,  indeed,  which  are  various,  sweet, 
charming,  under  their  different  shapes  agitate  the  mind :  seeing 
the  misery  originating  in  sensual  pleasures,  let  one  wander 
alone  like  a  rhinoceros. 

"Without  covetousness,  without  deceit,  without  craving,  with- 
outdistractions,  having  got  ridof  passionand  folly,  being  free  from 
desire  in  all  the  world,  let  one  wander  alone  like  a  rhinoceros. 

"Not  adorning  himself,  not  looking  out  for  sport,  amuse- 
ment, and  the  delight  of  pleasure  in  the  world,  being  loath  of  a 
life  of  dressing,  speaking  the  truth,  let  one  wander  alone  like  a 
rhinoceros. 

"Having  left  son  and  wife,  father  and  mother,  wealth  and 
com  and  relatives  and  the  different  objects  of  desire,  let  one 
wander  alone  like  a  rhinoceros. 

"Like  a  lion  not  trembling  at  noises,  like  the  wind  not  caught 
in  a  net,  like  a  lotus  not  stained  by  water,  let  one  wander  alone 
like  a  rhinoceros."  ^ 

There  is  much  that  is  fine  in  this  ideal;  and  I  for  one  can 
seldom  write  or  speak  of  it  without  catching  some  of  the  Bud- 
dhist's enthusiasm.  But  we  must  be  serious  with  it  and  not 
blink  its  implications.  One  cannot  wander  alone  like  a  rhi- 
noceros and  at  the  same  time  bide  at  home  and  act  as  beast  of 
burden  for  the  world.  The  ties  that  bind  man  most  closely  and 
that  lay  him  most  open  to  the  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous 
fortune,  are  often  not  his  pleasant  vices  and  his  selfish  wishes, 
but  his  family,  his  friends,  his  country,  the  cause  which  he 
serves.  Gautama  named  his  only  child  "Rahula"  —  di  fetter; 
and  in  the  Dhammapada  he  is  reported  to  have  said:  "The 
wise  man  does  not  regard  chains  or  ropes  as  fetters,  but  riches, 
honor,  wife  and  child,  —  all  that  draws  him  down  to  a  worldly 
life.  Therefore  he  leaves  all  these  with  their  sorrows  and  joys 
and  goes  forth  into  solitude."  A  monk  near  Kandy  who  was 
very  learned  in  his  religion  said  to  my  wife:  "I  have  a  mother 
and  father,  brothers  and  sisters,  but  I  leave  them  all  to  them- 
selves so  as  to  think  only  of  my  salvation.  I  have  to  think 
of  my  salvation  only  and  not  of  other  people's.  You  have  a 
mother  and  father,  brothers  and  sisters?    Leave  them  all  to 

»  The  Sutta  Nipata  (translated  by  FausbSll)  m.  S.B.E.,  vol.  x.  (Ox- 
ford,  Clarendon  Press,  1881.) 

391 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

themselves,  do  not  think  about  them,  but  think  only  of  your 
own  salvation.  They  are  ties  that  bind  you  to  this  world." 
That  this  was  the  point  of  view  of  many  of  the  early  monks 
comes  out  plainly  in  Mrs.  Rhys-Davids's  recent  translation 
of  the  Theregathas.  Many  of  the  monks  who  composed  these 
interesting  "Psalms"  glory  in  the  fact  that  they  have  deserted 
their  wives  and  children  in  order  to  win  peace  for  themselves. 
And  one  of  them  writes  thus:  "I  have  vomited  forth  all  de- 
sires, loves,  hates,  and  things  of  beauty.  For  no  one  else  have 
I  done  this:  it  is  only  for  myself  I  acted  thus."  ^ 

I  do  not  think  that  Gautama  would  have  approved  of  these 
monks,  modem  and  ancient;  but  I  think  their  attitude  is  quite 
consistent  with  this  part  of  his  teaching.  Give  no  pledges  to 
Fortune  is  the  essence  of  it.  And  from  this  it  must  inevitably 
follow  that  it  is  folly  to  adopt  the  interests  of  others  in  such 
fashion  as  ever  to  be  in  danger  of  sharing  in  their  grief  or  caring 
for  their  loss.  Desire  is  the  cause  of  sorrow  and  deliverance 
from  sorrow  is  the  great  aim.  The  wise  man  may  be  helpful 
to  others,  —  should  be  helpful,  for  thus  he  will  acquire  merit 
for  himself,  —  but  he  will  keep  his  distance  and  never  allow 
his  affections  to  become  involved  nor  imperil  his  peace  by 
sharing  their  interests.  He  will  retain  always  the  stoical  atti- 
tude of  mind.  He  may  enter  into  various  helpful  activities 
and  have  various  relations  with  his  fellows,  but  he  will  do  this 
in  such  fashion  as  always  to  be  able  to  take  philosophically 
whatever  happens.  He  must  never  love  in  such  a  way  as  to 
be  disturbed  by  the  death  or  the  misery  of  the  loved  one.  He 
may  participate  in  a  great  cause,  but  only  on  condition  of  re- 
taining complete  indifference  to  its  success  or  failure.  Indif- 
ference and  detachment  are  his  great  sources  of  strength  and 
his  never-failing  armor  against  sorrow.  "Ascending  the  high 
tower  of  wisdom,  the  wise  man  gazes  sorrowless  upon  the  sor- 
rowing crowd  below;  wise  himself,  he  looks  upon  the  fools  as 
one  on  a  mountain-peak  upon  dwellers  in  the  valley.  .  .  .  O 
joy,  in  joy  we  dwell  amongst  the  sickly  full  of  health.  In  very 
bliss  we  dwell  serene  amidst  the  careworn."  ^ 

1  Psalms  of  the  Early  Buddhists.  Part  n,  Psalms  of  the  Brethren.  (Ox- 
ford, 1913-) 

»  Dhammapada,  28,  198,  199.    My  quotations  from  the  Dhammapada 


THE  DOCTRINES   OF  MODERN   BUDDHISM 

There  is  thus  something  unquestionably  selfish  about  Bud- 
dhist salvation.  Against  selfishness  of  the  cruder  type  Buddhism 
makes  unending  war ;  yet  this  war  is  prompted  by  another  and 
subtler  kind  of  selfishness.  It  denies  the  existence  of  the  ego, 
yet  its  motive  force  in  seeking  release  from  the  world  is  a  kind 
of  enlightened  egoism. 

But  if  I  should  stop  here  I  should  do  Buddhism  great  in- 
justice. For  Buddhism  teaches  a  genuine  unselfishness  and  self- 
forgetfulness  with  no  arrihe  pensee  of  the  main  chance  in  this 
world  or  any  other.  And  more  important  still,  this  teaching  is 
illustrated  by  one  of  the  most  noble,  perfect,  and  long-contin- 
ued examples  of  unselfish  service  that  history  and  tradition 
have  to  record.  Whatever  we  are  to  think  of  the  assertion  in 
the  sacred  books  that,  immediately  upon  his  enlightenment, 
the  Evil  One  tempted  Gautama  to  enter  at  once  into  Nirvana 
taking  his  new-won  insight  with  him,  and  that  the  Blessed  One 
preferred  to  defer  Nirvana  and  its  joys  for  many  weary  years, 
so  that  he  might  instead  return  to  this  sad  world  and  give  his 
message  to  mankind,  certain  it  is  that  he  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  days  in  loving  service  to  all  within  his  reach  and  with  no 
thought  of  reward  or  escape  from  sorrow  on  his  part.  Jesus' 
life  lasted  thirty-three  years  and  his  active  teaching-mission 
only  three;  but  for  upwards  of  forty-five  years  the  Buddha 
was  laboring  at  the  spread  of  his  gospel  of  peace,  and  when 
his  hair  was  white  and  his  eyes  were  dim  and  his  back  was  bent 
with  the  weight  of  eighty  years,  he  was  still  plodding  on  over 
the  dusty  plains  of  India,  eager  as  ever  to  save  one  more  soul 
from  the  burden  of  sin  and  sorrow.  The  traditions  of  the  Mas- 
ter may  not  be  accepted  in  their  details,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  we  have  the  very  spirit  of  the  man  and  the  ideal 
which  he  most  earnestly  inculcated  upon  his  followers  in  the 
saying  that  he  could  look  back  over  five  hundred  previous 
births,  and  that  in  each  one  of  them  he  had  given  up  his  life 
for  the  benefit  of  some  other  creature.  And  his  teaching  no  less 
than  his  practice  expresses  this  all-absorbing  love.    I  cannot 

are  usually  taken  either  from  Max  Miiller's  translation  (S.B.E.,  vol.  x)  or 
from  the  translation  by  Wagiswara  and  Saunders  {The  Buddha's  Way  oj 
Virtue,  New  York,  Dutton,  1912);  though  sometimes  I  have  availed  my- 
self of  versions  by  other  scholars. 

393 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

here  refrain  from  quoting  again  his  great  command  to  his  dis- 
ciples: "Go  ye,  O  Bhikkhus,"  the  Vinaya  Pitaka  reports  him  as 
saying,  —  "go  ye  and  wander  forth  for  the  gain  of  the  many, 
the  welfare  of  the  many,  in  compassion  for  the  world,  for  the 
good,  for  the  gain,  for  the  welfare  of  gods  and  men.  Proclaim, 

0  Bhikkhus,  the  doctrine  glorious,  preach  ye  a  life  of  holiness, 
perfect  and  pure." 

How  can  we  reconcile  this  teaching  and  this  example  of  the 
Buddha  with  his  doctrine  of  salvation  from  sorrow?   In  truth 

1  do  not  think  we  can.  The  two  views  are  essentially  irrecon- 
cilable. And  it  is  their  innate  irreconcilability  and  at  the  same 
time  their  inextricable  interweaving  throughout  the  teachings 
of  Buddhism  that  make  the  philosophy  of  Buddhism  so  diffi- 
cult to  grasp.  In  a  long  discussion  with  a  most  able  Buddhist 
thinker  I  once  pointed  out  this  inconsistency  in  Buddhist 
doctrine  and  at  length  made  him  see  and  even  admit  it.  And 
then  he  quoted  and  translated  to  me  some  Pali  verses  in  which 
Gautama  says  of  his  doctrine  that  it  is  deep,  hard  to  be  under- 
stood, and  not  logical.  There  are,  in  fact,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
three  distinct  elements  in  Buddhism  which  originated  quite 
independently,  but  which  have  been  interwoven  in  such  fashion 
that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  distinguish  them.  One  of  these 
is  the  Brahmanical,  —  the  set  of  beliefs  which  Gautama  either 
took  for  granted  from  the  common  beliefs  of  his  time,  or 
adopted  into  his  teaching  as  a  kind  of  recognition  of  the  weak- 
ness of  the  flesh  in  his  disciples.  The  great  example  of  the 
former  of  these  is  the  belief  in  rebirth  and  Karma,  which  he 
himself  accepted  and  made  much  of.  The  various  teachings 
about  heaven  and  hell,  the  acquisition  of  merit  and  the  value 
of  various  external  acts,  —  these  very  likely  appealed  less  to 
Gautama  than  to  his  followers.  But  in  any  case  they  were  sim- 
ply adopted  from  Brahmanism  and  became  intertwined  more 
or  less  closely  with  what  may  be  called  the  second  element  in 
Buddhism  —  namely,  Gautama's  own  original  doctrine,  the 
Four  Noble  Truths,  based  upon  direct  experience  of  sorrow, 
sorrow's  cause,  and  the  purely  psychical  way  of  escape.  Be- 
sides these  two  elements  there  was  a  third,  namely,  Gautama's 
own  great  sympathetic  heart,  his  unselfish  devotion  and  desire 
to  serve  and  save  his  fellows.  The  attempt  is  usually  made  to 

394 


THE  DOCTRINES   OF   MODERN   BUDDHISM 

expound  Buddhism  as  if  all  of  it  followed  from  the  Four  Noble 
Truths.  To  do  this  successfully  is  really  impossible,  because 
much  that  is  of  importance  in  Buddhist  morality  and  philoso- 
phy comes  from  the  two  other  sources.  Thus,  for  example, 
how  is  the  First  Precept  —  not  to  kill  —  to  be  derived  from 
the  enlightened  egoism  of  the  Four  Noble  Truths?  There  is 
no  reason  why  one  who  has  broken  all  the  bonds,  including 
human  s\Tnpathy,  should  not  take  life  with  impunity.  The 
real  basis  for  this  precept  is  to  be  found  in  Buddha's  wide- 
reaching  love  for  all  sentient  creatures,  combined  with  the 
general  Indian  belief  in  future  existence  and  the  acquisition 
of  merit.  ^  Further  examples  of  this  inconsistency  might  be 
given,  and  even  instances  in  which  the  logical  consequences 
of  the  Four  Noble  Truths  are  at  war  with  the  real  desire  for 
service  which  characterized  not  only  the  Buddha  but  many  of 
his  disciples.  The  first  great  outbreak  of  this  smouldering  in- 
consistency came  when  Northern  Buddhism  gave  up  as  its 
ideal  the  Arahat  who  attains  and  enters  Nirvana,  and  substi- 
tuted for  him  the  Bodhisat  who  deliberately  surrenders  Nir- 
vana in  order  to  be  reborn  endlessly  and  serve  his  fellows.  The 
same  struggle  between  the  two  inconsistent  ideals  within  Bud- 
dhism is  flaming  out  again  to-day,  the  monks  holding  to  the 
egoistic  aim,  the  new  movement  of  reform  among  the  la\Tnen 
holding  up  the  ideal  of  service.  The  monks  have  the  advan- 
tage of  overwhelming  numbers;  but  the  reformers  have  the 
newer  spirit  of  the  age  upon  their  side.  The  outcome  of  the 
struggle  will  be  decisive  for  Buddhism.  For  no  man  and  no 
religion  can  permanently  serve  two  masters. 

^  In  fact  this  exact  precept  of  "ahlmsa"  (harmlessness)  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Brahmanical  literature  of  Gautama's  time. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  VALUE  OF  BUDDHISM   AND  ITS    SPRINGS   OF  POWER 

IT  is  always  very  much  easier  for  the  theologian  to  estimate 
the  value  of  a  given  religion  than  for  the  psychologist  or 
historian.  The  problem  for  the  former  is  simple:  he  has  only 
to  analyze  the  beliefs  of  the  religion  in  question,  compare  them 
with  the  doctrines  of  his  own  authoritative  and  infallible 
creed,  and  so  point  out  its  grain  of  truth  and  its  mass  of  error. 
The  student  of  the  history  or  of  the  psychology  of  religion  is 
unable  to  do  this,  because  he  is  not  in  possession  of  any  such 
infallible  and  authoritative  creed.  Hence,  much  as  he  may 
envy  and  admire  the  theologian,  he  is  forced  to  follow  a  hum- 
bler and  more  difficult  method.  What,  he  must  first  ask  him- 
self, are  the  values  of  religion  in  general  which  a  merely  human 
science  can  verify?  And  secondly.  How  far  does  the  religion  in 
question  possess  these  values?  The  writer  of  this  book  is  un- 
fortunately no  theologian,  and  in  seeking  to  estimate  the  value 
of  Buddhism  will  be  forced  to  fall  back  on  the  more  complex 
and  less  ambitious  method  of  the  psychologist  of  religion. 
Hence  the  only  results  he  can  hope  to  attain  will  not  only  be 
forever  open  to  correction,  but  even  if  accepted  as  true  will 
possess  merely  secondary  importance.  For  the  questions  with 
which  this  chapter  is  to  deal  have  to  do  not  with  the  tran- 
scendental truth  of  Buddhism,  but  only  with  its  human  and 
humanly  verifiable  values. 

WTiat,  then,  are  the  values  of  religion  from  a  merely  psycho- 
logical point  of  view?  Various  analyses  of  them  might  be 
made,  but  for  our  purposes  perhaps  the  simplest  and  most 
useful  classification  may  be  based  upon  and  derived  from  the 
classic  division  of  mental  powers  into  knowing,  feeling,  and 
willing.  Religion,  since  (as  a  psychological  phenomenon)  it 
involves  the  whole  mind  and  is  not  confined  to  any  one  divi- 
sion of  it,  must  have  to  do  with  all  three  of  these.  And  the 
value  of  any  given  religion  may  be  judged,  from  the  psycholo- 
396 


THE   VALUE   OF   BUDDHISM 

gist's  point  of  view,  by  the  question,  How  is  it  related  to 
human  knowledge,  to  human  happiness,  and  to  human  con- 
duct? 

What,  then,  first  of  all,  are  the  bearings  of  Buddhism  on 
human  knowledge,  such  as  science  and  histon,-?  How  far  are 
its  teachings  in  conformity  with  known  truth,  and  what  is  its 
relation  to  the  discovery  of  further  truth?  The  question  is 
extremely  complicated,  but  we  shall  simplify  it  to  a  consider- 
able extent  if  we  abstract  from  the  various  modifications  that 
the  teaching  of  the  Buddha  has  undergone  and  confine  our 
attention  to  the  Buddhism  of  the  ancient  sacred  books,  — 
i.e.,  to  the  teachings  of  Gautama  himself  so  far  as  they  are 
reported. 

The  most  obvious  and  most  striking  characteristic  of  Bud- 
dhism in  its  relation  to  science  is  the  extreme  openness  of  mind 
that  follows  necessarily  from  the  Buddhist  position.  The  Bud- 
dhist has  no  infallible  authority'  which  must  be  consulted  before 
he  may  listen  to  the  scientist.  He  has  no  pope  who  may  make 
definitions  ex  cathedra  of  faith  and  morals,  no  church  councils 
with  power  to  decree  the  truth,  no  supematurally  inspired 
book  that  cannot  err.  If  he  remains  faithful  to  the  spirit  and 
admonitions  of  the  Buddha,  he  has  but  one  guide,  which  he 
must  always  follow  no  matter  where  she  leads;  and  this  guide 
is  his  owTi  reason.  A  searcher  after  truth,  named  Kesaputto, 
once  came  to  the  Buddha  and  said:  "Master,  ever\'  priest  and 
monk  extols  his  belief  as  the  only  true  one  and  condemns  that 
of  others  as  false.  I  am  troubled  by  doubts.  I  do  not  know 
whom  to  believe."  The  Buddha  answered:  "Thy  doubts  are 
well  founded,  O  Kesaputto.  Listen  well  to  my  words:  Do  not 
believe  anything  on  mere  hearsay;  do  not  believe  traditions 
because  they  are  old  and  handed  down  through  many  genera- 
tions; do  not  believe  anything  on  account  of  rumors  or  because 
people  talk  much  about  it ;  do  not  believe  simply  because  the 
written  testimony  of  some  ancient  sage  is  shown  to  thee; 
never  believe  anything  because  presumption  is  in  its  favor,  or 
because  the  custom  of  many  years  leads  thee  to  regard  it  as 
true;  do  not  believe  anything  on  the  mere  authority  of  thy 
teachers  or  priests.  Whatever  according  to  thine  ot^ti  experi- 
ence and  after  thorough  investigation  agrees  with  thy  reason, 

397 


V 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  is  conducive  to  thine  own  weal  and  to  that  of  all  other 
living  beings,  that  accept  as  truth  and  live  accordingly."  * 

This  absolute  reliance  on  reason  and  experience,  coupled 
with  a  complete  disregard  for  mere  authority,  is  characteristic 
of  all  Gautama's  teaching.  There  is  a  modem  note  in  his 
words  and  his  attitude  that  comes  to  us  through  these  twenty- 
five  hundred  years  with  something  like  a  shock  of  surprise 
and  which  differentiates  his  religion  from  all  others.  He  alone 
of  founders  and  prophets  turned  away  from  all  supernatural 
sources  of  knowledge  and  attempted  to  think  the  thing  out  for 
himself,  and  to  recommend  his  doctrine  to  others  only  because 
it  was  scientifically  verifiable  by  an  appeal  to  experience. 

This  was  possible  to  him  in  part  because  his  teaching  had 
nothing  to  say  of  the  hypothesis  of  a  personal  Creator  or  a 
personal  Providence.  How  the  world  came  into  being  was  not 
his  problem,  and  he  insistently  refused  to  commit  himself  upon 
it.  And  this  atheism,  this  lack  of  the  mystical  element  in  his 
religion,  which  has  been  so  long  used  as  a  reproach  to  it,  has 
become  to-day  a  further  recommendation  in  the  eyes  of  many 
a  modem  thinker.  For  science  is  atheistic  in  exactly  the  same 
sense  as  is  Buddhism.  Neither  of  them  pretends  to  know  how 
the  world  came  into  being ;  both  are  agnostic  and  silent  on  this 
point.  And  both  turn  away  from  ultimate  problems  like  this 
to  center  their  attention,  in  positivist  fashion,  on  the  phenom- 
enal world,  the  world  that  is  verifiable  in  human  experience 
and  has  direct  and  obvious  bearing  upon  human  actions  and 
human  weal  and  woe.  If  a  supernatural  realm  exists,  science 
cannot  see  it,  and  the  Buddha  (when  we  confine  our  attention 
to  the  purest  form  of  his  doctrine)  will  not  see  it.  WTien  urged 
by  one  of  his  followers  to  perform  a  miracle  in  order  to  convert 
certain  non-believers,  the  Buddha  replied:  "I  despise  and  re- 
ject the  miracles  of  magic  power  and  divination.  I  and  my  dis- 
ciples gain  adherents  only  by  the  miracle  of  instruction."  ^ 

The  parenthetical  clause  which  I  inserted  above  is  of  some 
importance.    We  may  say  that  Buddhism  makes  no  appeal 

1  Anguttara  Nikaya,  quoted  in  Subhadra's  Buddhist  Catechism. 

2  From  the  Digha  Nikaya,  quoted  on  page  71  of  the  Buddhist  Catechism. 
One  should  add,  however,  that  the  Buddhist  books  are  full  of  miraculous 
happenings  and  picture  the  'Buddha  as  believing  himself  and  his  followers 
to  be  in  possession  of  marvelous  powers. 

398 


THE  VALUE   OF   BUDDHISJVl 

to  miraculous  agencies,  superstition,  and  mythology;  but  we 
may  say  this  pro\aded  only  we  confine  our  attention  to  the 
purest  form  of  Buddhist  doctrine.  If  we  take  the  Buddhism  of 
the  Pitakas  as  a  whole,  we  shall  find  this  pure  doctrine  inter- 
woven with  as  large  a  growth  of  supernatural  stories  and  fan- 
ciful science  as  is  to  be  found  in  most  other  religions.  And 
even  if  we  take  refuge  in  so  modem  and  generally  accepted 
a  book  as  Colonel  Olcott's  "Catechism,"  we  shall  find  most 
of  Part  V  given  over  to  a  defense  of  the  "occult"  in  Bud- 
dhist legend  and  a  (successful)  attempt  to  show  that  all  the 
miracles  and  wonders  of  Buddhism  are  in  accord  with  "mod- 
em science."  It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  "modem  science" 
to  which  the  Colonel  makes  appeal  is  of  the  usual  Theosoph- 
ical  variety.  Hence,  here  again  it  is  extremely  important  to 
distinguish  clearly  the  three  elements  of  Buddhism  pointed 
out  in  the  last  chapter.  If  we  confine  our  attention  to  those 
teachings  which  come  from  the  Four  Noble  Truths  or  from 
Buddha's  love  for  his  fellows,  we  shall  be  in  no  danger  of 
getting  involved  in  the  magical  and  fanciful.  But  a  large  part 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Pitakas  comes  from  what  I  have  called 
the  Brahmanical  source;  and  the  most  enthusiastic  Buddhist  ^ 
apologist  will  be  unable  to  deny  that  this  contains  much 
that  is  unscientific  if  not  highly  fanciful.  All  the  supernatural 
part  of  the  Pitakas  is,  indeed,  taken  only  symbolically  to- 
day by  modem  Buddhists  of  Western  education;  and  it  is 
quite  probable  that  Gautama  would  thoroughly  approve  of 
their  actions.  These  supernatural  tales  sprang  up  out  of  the 
popular  soil  in  which  Buddhism  grew,  and  have  clung  about 
the  story  of  the  Master's  birth  and  life  quite  naturally  and  in- 
evitably: but  they  are  altogether  distinct  and  very  different 
in  tone  from  those  teachings  of  the  sacred  books  which  most 
clearly  came  from  him.  Hence  we  shall  be  justified  in  abstract- 
ing from  them  altogether  in  our  efforts  to  get  at  the  real 
essence  of  Buddhism.  But  unfortunately  by  no  means  all  the 
teachings  of  the  Pitakas  which  are  out  of  harmony  with  mod- 
em science  can  be  so  easily  disposed  of.  Gautama  certainly  had 
a  science  of  his  own  which  he  took  from  the  Indian  science  of 
his  day  and  wove  into  his  system.  What  are  we  to  do  with  this? 
Take,  for  instance,  Buddhist  cosmology  with  its  many  Kalpas, 

399 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

its  long  periods  of  degeneration  and  its  rhythmically  recur- 
ring destructions  and  regrowths  of  the  world.  It  is  evident 
that  the  Buddha  believed  in  this  or  something  very  like  it.  Or, 
more  important  still,  take  Buddhist  psychology.  Every  mod- 
ern Buddhist  will  tell  you  (and  I  quote  the  words  of  one)  that 
"Buddha  was  the  Supreme  Master  of  psychology."  i  Are  we, 
then,  to  accept  his  psychology  with  its  five  "Khandas"  (body, 
sensation,  perception,  discrimination,  and  consciousness);  its 
list  of  sense  organs  (eye,  ear,  nose,  tongue,  body,  and  mind) ;  its 
twelve  "Nidanas,"  and  all  its  other  details,  taken  over  as  they 
were  from  the  psychology  of  600  B.c.?^  One  must,  in  short, 
take  this  question  seriously.  It  is  easy  to  say  that  the  Buddha 
is  the  supreme  master  of  psychology;  but  if  one  adopts  his 
psychology  one  must  reject  modern  psychology.  One  cannot 
play  fast  and  loose  with  these  things,  and  run  with  the  hounds 
and  with  the  hares  at  the  same  time. 

It  is  possible,  of  course,  to  reject  the  Buddha's  cosmology 
and  his  psychology,  together  with  the  supernatural  references 
of  the  Pitakas ;  but  even  after  this  one  will  still  find  on  one's 
hands  a  large  part  of  the  Buddha's  inheritance  from  Brah- 
manism  of  which  it  will  not  be  so  easy  to  get  rid,  because  it 
is  more  intimately  interwoven  with  the  rest  of  his  teaching. 
What,  for  instance,  shall  one  say  of  rebirth,  Karma,  "Pari- 
nirvana,"  the  imperishable  nature  of  "merit,"  and  inevitable 
retribution  for  all  deeds  according  to  their  moral  quality? 
These  beliefs,  let  us  admit,  are  on  a  different  footing  from 

1  The  Maha  Bodhi  and  United  Buddhist  World,  for  February,  1914. 

*  Psychology  has  an  unusually  important  place  in  the  theory  of  Bud- 
dhism and  permeates  a  large  part  of  its  literature.  In  some  Buddhist  psy- 
chology there  is  a  good  deal  of  insight  into  the  life  of  the  mind.  Perhaps 
its  chief  interest  for  the  Western  psychologist  is  to  be  found  in  its  classi- 
fications and  divisions  of  mental  phenomena,  so  strikingly  different  from 
our  own.  Buddhist  psychology  is  very  technical,  and  great  importance  is 
given  to  exact  terminology;  a  Buddhist  psychologist  will  usually  refuse  to 
discuss  psychological  questions  with  you  at  all  unless  you  adopt  his  terms 
and  categories.  But  in  spite  of  their  careful  distinctions  Buddhists  never 
seem  able  to  distinguish  sharply  between  psychology,  metaphysics,  and 
ethics,  the  two  latter  being  usually  mixed  up  in  all  their  treatments  of 
mental  phenomena.  The  reader  will  find  a  good  deal  of  psychology  in 
nearly  all  their  sacred  books  and  in  the  treatises  of  their  scholars.  A  handy 
little  work  on  the  subject  is  Mrs.  Rhys-Davids's  Buddhist  Psychology 
(London,  Bell  &  Sons,  1914)- 

400 


THE  VALUE   OF  BUDDHISM 

those  mentioned  above.  They  are  not  inconsistent  —  or  at 
least  not  so  obviously  inconsistent  —  with  modem  science.  It 
is  quite  possible  that  they  are  true,  and  they  involve  a  faith  in 
the  moral  nature  of  the  universe  which  is  very  noble.  But 
are  they  scientific  and  verifiable?  To  judge  by  the  writings  of 
many  modem  Buddhist  apologists  —  especially  Western  Pali 
scholars  who  have  given  up  Christianity  and  like  to  call  them- 
selves Buddhists  —  one  would  suppose  that  among  other  ad- 
vantages over  Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  rest,  Buddhism 
alone  among  religions  possesses  no  metaphysical  postulates, 
makes  no  appeal  to  blind  faith,  and  is  altogether  verifiable. 
Paul  Dahlke,  for  instance,  writes:  — 

"In  religions  founded  upon  a  revelation,  belief  in  certain 
supernatural  occurrences  is  indispensable  for  one  to  be  able 
truly  to  call  one's  self  an  adherent  of  the  religion.  Hence  if 
my  understanding  will  not  permit  me  to  accept  the  dogmas 
of  Christianity,  —  if  the  pains  with  which  it  threatens  and  the 
problems  with  which  it  seeks  to  allure  are  to  me  empty  words, 
then,  in  spite  of  the  strictest  obedience  of  the  behests  of  moral- 
ity, I  am  not  a  Christian.  ...  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  believe  in  order  to  be  a  Buddhist.  Here  belief  is 
dethroned  and  replaced  by  knowledge  and  by  understanding. 
...  In  Buddhism  faith  is  purely  the  product  of  knowledge: 
it  is  mathematical  certainty  pure  and  simple."  ^ 

It  would  be  interesting  to  see  how  the  doctrine  of  rebirth 
would  fare  if  "belief"  were  to  be  altogether  "dethroned  and 
replaced  by  knowledge  and  by  understanding";  and  to  learn 
how  the  absolute  justice  of  Karma  is  to  be  demonstrated  as  a 
"mathematical  certainty  pure  and  simple."  Or  what  shall 
we  say  of  such  a  universally  accepted  Buddhist  belief  as  the 
following:  "The  unsatisfied  desire  for  things  that  belong  to  the 
state  of  personal  existence  in  the  material  world  is  a  force  and 
has  creative  power  in  itself  so  strong  that  it  draws  the  being 
back  into  mundane  life."  ^  Is  this  a  fact  of  science  which  has 
been  verified?  Does  its  acceptance  demand  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  faith? 

It  is,  of  course,  natural  that  those  bom  and  brought  up 
in  Buddhist  lands  should  take  beliefs  such  as  these  quite  for 
»  Op.  ciL,  pp.  44-45.         *  Colonel  Olcott's  Buddhist  Catechism. 
401 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

granted  and  should  hardly  think  of  questioning  or  analyzing 
them.  But  it  is  a  little  odd  to  see  Europeans,  trained  in  West- 
em  modes  of  thought,  renouncing  Christianity  for  Buddhism 
and  proclaiming  that  they  do  so  because  Buddhism  requires 
no  faith.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  not  exchanging  belief 
for  "mathematical  certainty";  they  are  giving  up  faith  in  the 
cosmology  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  first  century  of  our  era  only 
to  substitute  for  it  a  faith  in  the  cosmology  of  the  Hindus  in 
the  sixth  century  B.C. 

After  all  this  has  been  said,  however,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  Buddhism  occupies  a  peculiarly  favorable  position  in  re- 
lation to  modem  science  and  the  advance  of  thought  and 
knowledge  generally.  This  is  due  to  its  fundamental  principles 
already  cited,  which  make  reason  and  verifiable  experience 
supreme,  and  authority  as  such  of  very  slight  importance.  The 
Pitakas  have  a  very  different  position  in  Buddhism  from  that 
of  the  Bible  in  Christianity,  the  Vedas  in  Hinduism,  or  the 
Koran  in  Islam.  The  Pitakas  are  authoritative  in  the  way  that 
Euclid  is  authoritative;  not  in  the  sense  of  Moses,  the  Rishis, 
and  Mohammed.  The  modem  Buddhist  regards  his  sacred 
books  with  great  reverence  and  goes  to  them  repeatedly  for 
instruction :  but  he  considers  them  true  because  he  finds  them 
reasonable  and  (to  the  extent  of  his  researches)  verifiable.  His 
reason  never  abdicates  its  throne,  and  he  could  not  comprehend 
how  any  one  could  seriously  say,  ''Credo  quia  impossibile." 

Hence,  toward  the  unverifiable  elements  that  have  become 
interwoven  with  the  Buddhist  doctrine,  the  modem  Buddhist 
may  choose  between  two  attitudes,  both  of  which  are  at  the 
same  time  consistent  with  science  and  consistent  with  the 
spirit  and  the  principles  of  the  Buddha.  He  may  reject  some 
of  the  Brahmanistic  elements  and  retain  others  —  such  as 
Karma  and  the  ultimate  morality  of  the  universe  —  on  faith, 
as  being  not  indeed  verifiable,  but  at  least  not  inconsistent 
with  science.  Or,  if  he  prefers,  he  may  give  up  all  the  Brah- 
manistic elements  of  Buddhism  and  take  as  his  religion  only 
the  Four  Noble  Truths  and  the  altruistic  teachings  of  the 
Buddha;  and  these,  of  course,  can  never  be  inconsistent  with 
science,  and,  so  far  as  they  demand  verification  at  all,  are 
thoroughly  verifiable. 

402 


THE   VALUE   OF   BUDDHISM 

This  flexibility  of  Buddhism  certainly  gives  it  a  very  great 
intellectual  advantage  over  all  other  religions  as  they  are  com- 
monly understood  and  practiced  to-day.  I  do  not  say  that 
they  give  it  an  advantage  over  the  Christianity  of  the  Gospels; 
but  Christianity^  has  had  an  historical  development  which  has 
deprived  it  of  much  of  that  flexibility  which  its  founder  meant 
his  teachings  to  possess.  It  is  with  something  like  a  shock  that 
one  turns  from  the  words  of  the  Buddha  to  some  orthodox 
Protestant  work  on  the  "Plan  of  Salvation,"  with  its  neat 
cosmic  scheme  and  its  anthropomorphic  conceptions  of  the 
First,  Second,  and  Third  Persons  of  the  Trinity;  or  to  a  Catho- 
lic treatise  on  the  "Infallibility  of  the  Pope,"  or  the  necessity 
of  infant  baptism.  And  if  we  Christians  allow  our  Christianity 
to  be  permanently  identified  with  dogmas  like  these,  we  must 
not  be  surprised  if  our  missionaries  have  but  ill  success  in 
Burma  and  Ceylon,  and  if  every  year  a  few  more  of  our  learned 
men  announce  their  conversion  to  Buddhism  and  spread  the 
tidings  over  the  Orient  that  Christianity  is  dead. 

One  of  the  great  prerequisites  for  a  religion  that  is  to  live 
and  to  serve  mankind  for  long  is  its  ability  to  grow  and  to 
adapt  itself  to  the  changing  needs  and  the  changing  intellectual 
environments  of  successive  ages.  And  its  free  attitude  toward 
authority  gives  Buddhism  this  advantage  in  a  preeminent 
degree.  If  its  leaders  know  how  to  utilize  this  advantage  they 
will  have  reason  to  be  very-  hopeful  for  the  future  of  their  reli- 
gion. Its  purified  form  will  probably  appeal  only  to  the  few. 
But  there  will  always  be  a  few  to  whom  its  appeal  will  be  ex- 
ceedingly strong.  Its  ver>'  atheism  will  be  a  source  of  strength 
as  well  as  of  weakness.  For  while  the  great  majority  of  man- 
kind will  doubtless  always  feel  the  need  of  a  personal  super- 
natural power,  there  will  always  be  some  who  do  not  feel  this 
need  and  to  whom  the  mystical  makes  no  appeal.  To  these 
the  other  great  religions  have  little  to  offer  that  they  can 
accept.  And  it  is  well  that  for  them  there  will  always  be  open, 
as  a  last  refuge,  this  religion,  which,  while  it  cannot  lead  them 
to  God,  can  lead  them  to  a  very  lofty  morality-,  and  to  the 
Great  Peace. 

To  what  extent  can  Buddhism  really  lead  to  peace  and  how 
is  this  possible?   W'Tiat  are  its  relations  to  human  happiness, 

403 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

and  what  are  the  springs  of  its  power?  It  would  seem  to  many 
at  first  that  Buddhism  is  more  Hkely  to  disseminate  sadness 
than  joy.  And  indeed,  as  I  have  shown  (in  spite  of  the  denials 
of  its  advocates),  the  result  of  Buddhist  teaching  is  very 
often  a  melancholy  view  of  life  and  the  destruction  of  many 
of  its  innocent  pleasures.  Here  I  need  only  refer  the  reader  to 
what  was  said  on  this  subject  in  a  previous  chapter.  Life,  in- 
deed, has  many  sorrows,  but  it  also  has  certain  real  joys,  such 
as  health,  success,  love.  But  Buddhism  is  always  trying  to 
embitter  these  few  sweet  things  with  the  thought  of  their  inse- 
curity and  their  impermanence.  The  Buddhist  apologists  may 
say  what  they  like,  but  there  is  no  denying  that  nearly  all  the 
experiences  which  we  naive  Christians,  Jews,  Parsees,  and  Mo- 
hammedans in  our  ignorance  call  the  "good  things  of  life,"  are 
to  the  Buddhist  evil  and  to  be  avoided.  Thus  the  Buddhist  in 
his  extreme  fear  of  sorrow  —  a  fear  which  seems  almost  an 
obsession  —  deliberately  cuts  himself  off  from  a  large  number 
of  the  positive  and  solid  joys  of  life.  For  fear  of  the  pains 
and  disappointments  of  ordinary  social  intercourse,  he  should 
wander  alone  like  a  rhinoceros. 

And  not  only  does  the  Buddhist's  fear  of  sorrow  deprive  him 
of  much  of  the  happiness  that  others  possess;  his  philosophy, 
on  the  other  hand,  deprives  him  of  the  chief  defenses  which 
other  religions  provide  against  sorrow.  I  refer,  of  course,  to 
the  belief  in  a  personal  God,  in  an  immortal  soul,  and  in  an 
eternal  life  of  joyful  reunion  with  those  whom  one  has  loved, 
and  in  the  presence  of  God.  The  dying  Christian  is  pointed  to 
Christ  and  reminded  of  his  endless  love;  for  the  dying  Buddhist, 
according  to  Fielding  Hall,  the  only  word  of  comfort  is,  "Think 
of  your  own  good  deeds!" 

It  is  therefore  not  surprising  to  find,  as  we  have  found,  that 
the  pure  Buddhism  of  Gautama  had  to  be  mingled  in  the 
very  beginning  with  much  popular  belief  before  it  could  be  ac- 
cepted, and  ever  since  then  has  been  overlaid  with  one  incrus- 
tation after  another.  And  it  is  surely  a  significant  fact  that 
wherever  Buddhism  has  spread,  one  of  the  most  inveterate 
tendencies  among  its  converts  has  been  to  transform  the 
Buddha  himself  into  a  god,  and  worship  him  as  such.  Most 
human  beings  are  more  conscious  of  their  weakness  than  of 
404 


THE  VALUE   OF  BUDDHISM 

their  strength,  and  cry  out  for  aid  from  some  more  than  human 
Power  which  can  understand  and  help  them.  In  Hke  manner, 
popular  Buddhism,  even  of  the  Southern  type,  has  to  all  prac- 
tical purposes  restored  the  substantial  self  which  philosophical 
Buddhism  banishes,  and  either  substituted  heaven  for  Nir- 
vana, made  Nirvana  over  into  a  state  of  "eternal  comfort," 
or  neglected  it  altogether.  The  truth  is  that  the  ideal  of  peace 
which  the  Buddhism  of  Gautama  holds  out  does  not  appeal  to 
the  masses.  If  popular  Buddhism  is  to  be  reformed  and  put  in 
accord  with  the  teachings  of  the  founder,  the  people  must  be 
taught  the  unpleasant  tidings  that  the  Buddha  is  altogether 
dead  and  gone  and  there  is  no  personal  God  or  nat  or  devata 
to  help  one;  that  prayer  in  the  sense  of  petition  is  vain;  that 
the  goal  after  which  all  should  strive  is  non-existence;  and  that 
even  short  of  Nirvana,  there  is  no  real  self  that  survives  death. 
One  may  wish  the  reformers  well  and  yet  be  pardoned  for 
questioning  whether  such  a  reformation  of  the  popular  faith 
would  work  any  increase  in  the  happiness  of  the  people. 

Buddhism,  however,  has  its  consolation  in  sorrow,  or  rather 
several  different  kinds  of  consolation.  In  fact,  each  of  the 
different  elements  of  Buddhism  has  its  own  sort  of  comfort  — 
warm  or  cold  —  to  offer,  and  he  who  does  not  like  one  may  try 
another.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  the  loss  of  dear  ones,  the  ignorant 
Buddhist  may  hope  that  the  Buddha  will  reunite  him  with  his 
beloved  in  the  next  life.  He  to  whom  Buddhism  means  almost 
exclusively  the  loving  service  of  his  fellows  will  take  comfort 
in  increased  activity  and  the  effort  to  live  worthily  of  the  one 
who  is  gone.  I  met  one  man  of  this  sort  who  had  lost  his  father, 
and  who  apparently  did  not  look  for  comfort  of  any  sort. 
WTiether  he  should  ever  meet  his  father  again  he  had  no  idea, 
and  he  did  not  think  about  the  question.  WTiat  heaven  or  Nir- 
vana might  be  he  knew  not.  There  might  be  another  conscious 
life  and  a  happy  one  or  there  might  not ;  but  for  his  own  part 
he  found  his  happiness  just  in  doing  his  duty  and  in  serving 
his  fellows  here  and  now.  Of  course  there  are  not  many  men  of 
this  t>T)e  —  in  Buddhism  or  in  any  other  religion.  But  what- 
ever one  may  think  of  this  sort  of  consolation,  it  speaks  well 
for  Buddhism  that  it  can  occasionally  produce  this  kind  of 
man.   For  he  had  drawn  his  inspiration  from  the  Buddha. 

405 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

The  Buddhist  whose  religion  consists  of  the  Four  Noble 
Truths  and  the  strictly  Buddhist  method  of  deliverance  will 
seek  his  consolation  for  the  loss  of  friends  in  still  a  third  way. 
He  will  tell  himself  that  death  is  inevitable  and  universal  and 
will  get  what  comfort  he  can  out  of  that.  This  is  evidently  the 
sort  of  comfort  that  Gautama  himself  believed  in,  for  it  was 
thus  that  he  comforted  his  disciples  at  the  prospect  of  his  own 
death.  "O  Ananda,"  he  said,  "have  I  not  often  declared  to 
thee  that  it  is  in  the  very  nature  of  all  things,  howsoever  dear 
and  beloved  they  may  be  to  us,  that  we  must  divide  ourselves 
from  them,  leave  them,  sever  ourselves  from  them?  Every- 
thing bom,  brought  into  being,  and  formed,  contains  within 
itself  the  inherent  necessity  of  dissolution."  Further  than  this, 
for  the  consistent  Buddhist  every  dear  one  lost  marks  a  closer 
approximation  to  one's  own  perfect  freedom.  I  asked  a  Bud- 
dhist once  what  consolation  his  religion  had  to  offer  a  mother 
who  had  lost  her  child.  He  replied  by  telling  me  of  a  woman 
of  his  acquaintance  whose  only  son  had  recently  died.  At  first 
the  woman  grieved,  but  then  she  took  comfort  in  the  thought 
that  she  had  one  less  tie  to  bind  her  to  the  world. 

But  Buddhism  has  more  than  this  negative  consolation  to 
give.  It  does  lead  —  and  this  is  a  verifiable  fact  —  to  an  ex- 
hilarating sense  of  independence,  of  being  one's  own  master, — 
a  deep  and  abiding  peace,  a  spiritual  freedom,  which  is  very 
real.  The  Buddha  said  of  it:  "Whoever  hears,  sees,  and  wel- 
comes with  joy  this  methodical  arrangement  of  the  Law  which 
is  a  mine  of  happiness  and  prosperity,  and  honors  it  with  folded 
hands,  shall  attain  .  .  .  the  happiness  of  perfect  contemplation, 
that  deep  calm  of  uninterrupted  bliss,  with  his  senses  in  the 
highest  perfection  and  illuminated  by  unclouded  knowledge."  * 
And  again:  "He  whose  appetites  are  stilled,  who  is  indifferent 
to  food,  whose  goal  is  the  freedom  which  comes  of  realizing 
life's  emptiness  and  transiency,  is  hard  to  track  as  the  flight 
of  birds  in  the  sky.  Even  the  gods  envy  him  whose  senses  are 
quiet  as  horses  well  tamed  by  the  charioteer,  who  has  renounced 
self-will,  and  put  away  all  taints.  No  more  will  he  be  bom 
whose  patience  is  as  the  earth's,  who  is  firm  as  a  pillar  and 

^  Quoted  by  Dudley  Wright  in  the  Buddhist  Review  for  April,  1912  (p. 

122). 

406 


THE   VALUE   OF   BUDDHISM 

pious,  pure  as  some  unruffled  lake.  Calm  is  the  thought,  calm 
the  words  and  deeds  of  such  a  one,  who  has  by  wisdom  at- 
tained true  freedom  and  self-control."  ^  "O  joy!  We  live  in 
bliss,  amongst  men  of  hate,  hating  none.  O  joy!  In  bliss  we 
dwell,  healthy  among  the  ailing.  Yea,  in  very  bliss  we  dwell, 
free  from  care  amidst  the  careworn.  In  bliss  we  dwell  possess- 
ing nothing;  let  us  dwell  feeding  upon  joy  like  the  shining  ones 
in  their  splendor.  Victory  breeds  hatred,  for  the  conquered 
sleeps  in  sorrow.  He  who  has  given  up  both  victory  and  de- 
feat, he,  the  contented,  is  happy. ^  He  who  has  tasted  the 
sweetness  of  solitude  and  tranquillity  is  free  from  fear  and 
free  from  sin,  while  he  tastes  the  sweetness  of  drinking  in  the 
Law."  3 

And  while  we  may  not  be  willing  to  go  all  the  way  with  the 
Buddhist,  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  freedom  from  servitude 
to  a  world  of  things  and  of  egoistic  desires,  and  most  of  all 
from  the  tyranny  of  the  self,  brings  a  peace  and  a  joy  that  the 
hustling  Westerner,  with  his  materialistic  ambitions  and  his 
constant  alternations  of  hot  hopes  and  chilling  fears,  knows 
nothing  about. 

"  'Tis  not  in  seeking, 
'Tis  not  in  endless  striving 
Thy  quest  is  found : 
Be  still  and  listen, 
Be  still  and  drink  the  quiet 
Of  all  around. 

"Not  in  thy  cr>'ing, 
Not  in  thy  loud  beseeching, 
Will  peace  draw  near: 
Rest  with  palms  folded, 
Rest  with  thine  eyelids  fallen  — 
Lo,  Peace  is  here."  * 

The  Buddhists  of  Burma  and  Ceylon,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
impress  one  as  a  decidedly  happy  people  and  happy  in  their 
religion.    And  this  is  true  not  only  of  the  ignorant  ones  who 

1  Dhammapada,  93-96. 

'  Buddhism  is  thoroughly  opposed  to  war.  For  a  scholarly  discussion  of 
its  position  and  its  influence  on  war  see  "Buddhism  and  War,"  by  W.  L. 
Hare,  in  the  Buddhist  Review  for  January-  March,  1915  (pp.  4-17)- 

3  Ibid.,  197-201,  205.  *  Edward  Rowland  Sill. 

407 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

have  made  the  Buddha  into  a  god,  but  also  of  the  monks  and 
the  better-informed  laymen  who  know  quite  well  that  Buddha 
is  dead  and  gone.  Their  happiness,  indeed,  is  sedate  rather 
than  jubilant;  it  is  a  calm  and  steady  peace.  The  First  Noble 
Truth  has,  to  be  sure,  thrown  a  very  superficial  touch  of  melan- 
choly over  their  lives;  but  on  the  whole  they  are,  I  repeat,  a 
happy  people,  and  they  seem  to  take  real  joy  in  their  religion. 
To  one  who  has  come  to  think  of  the  joy  of  religion  as  spring- 
ing from  the  belief  in  God,  and  who  has  learned  that  Buddhism 
is  atheistic,  this  will  come  with  some  surprise:  and  such  a  one 
may  well  ask  what  are  the  sources  of  happiness  in  Buddhism. 

This  question  can  hardly  be  answered  if  we  stop  with  the 
view  that  Buddhism  is  atheistic  and  do  not  go  on  to  analyze 
this  atheism.  It  is  quite  true  that  Buddhism  denies  the  exis- 
tence of  "God."  But  while  it  is  atheistic  theoretically,  it  is 
theistic  pragmatically.  It  has,  in  fact,  a  very  pragmatic  god. 
And  here  I  have  in  mind  not  the  religion  of  the  ignorant  who 
pray  to  nats  and  devatas  and  regard  Buddha  himself  as  a  kind 
of  god  or  all-powerful  being  who  hears  and  answers  prayers. 
I  refer  to  the  Buddhism  of  the  monks  themselves.  For  this 
orthodox  Buddhist  religion,  the  universe  itself,  under  the  guid- 
ance and  control  of  the  Law  of  Karma,  takes  the  place  of  the 
Christian  or  Mohammedan  God;  and  as  I  have  said,  a  very 
pragmatic  god  it  makes.  For  the  pragmatist  every  real  (and 
not  merely  verbal)  difference,  every  real  being  (and  not  merely 
abstract  term)  must  make  a  difference  to  some  one:  and  the 
meaning  of  the  term  "God"  pragmatically  will  be  summed 
up  in  those  things  which  God  is  conceived  of  as  doing  for  us 
human  beings.  If  you  want  to  know  what  God  means  to  the  be- 
liever, ask  what  things  would  be  different  to  him  if  God  should, 
for  him,  cease  to  exist.  What  are  these  things  that  God  does? 
Are  not  the  following  the  more  important  for  the  rank  and  file 
of  believers?  (i)  God  is  on  the  side  of  righteousness  and  as- 
sures ultimate  victory  to  the  ideal.  (2)  In  more  concrete  phrase, 
He  rewards  virtue  and  punishes  sin.  (3)  He  assures  to  the  be- 
liever a  life  after  the  death  of  this  body,  and  a  life  in  which  the 
virtuous  shall  be  rewarded  and  the  sinful  punished.  (4)  He 
hears  and  answers  prayer. 

Now,  the  point  I  wish  to  make  is  that  the  universe,  with  its 
408 


THE   VALUE  OF  BUDDHISM 

Law  of  Karma,  does  for  the  Buddhist  all  these  things,   (i)  The 
Buddhist's  universe  is  at  the  antipodes  from  that  of  the  mate- 
rialist.  It  is  a  world  of  unfailing  causal  action,  yes;  but  it  is  a 
world  in  which  physical  laws  play  a  very  secondary  r61e  to  moral 
laws.    As  a  man  sows  so  shall  he  reap,  teaches  the  Buddhist: 
but  this  not  at  all  in  the  sense  of  the  natural  scientist,  but  in 
that  of  the  moralist.   Nature  for  him  is  supematurally  moral. 
The  universe  itself  is  a  power  not  ourselves  that  makes  for 
righteousness.   (2)   Hence  it  results  necessarily  that  every  vir- 
tuous act  brings  its  inevitable  reward,  and  every  sin  its  unes- 
capable  punishment.    (3)  And  in  order  that  this  may  never 
fail.  Buddhism  takes  a  future  life  of  retribution  quite  for 
granted.   The  "anatta"  doctrine  that  there  is  no  substantial 
ego  makes  no  pragmatic  difference  here.    In  heaven,  hell,  re- 
birth, or  Nirvana,  every  man  (however  "man"  be  interpreted) 
shall,  in  the  course  of  ages,  receive  the  full  reward  of  all  his 
works.    (4)  In  a  very  real  pragmatic  sense,  the  universe  hears 
and  answers  prayer.   And  here  I  refer  to  what  in  a  previous 
chapter  I  called  the  third  theory  of  prayer  and  the  one  most 
common  among  the  monks.   This  orthodox  Buddhist  theory 
of  the  way  in  which  prayer  is  answered  is  different  from  the 
Christian,  but  the  outcome  is  the  same.  For  the  Christian  and 
Mohammedan,  petitional  prayer  is  an  appeal  to  a  conscious 
Being  who  hears  and  by  an  act  of  will  grants  or  refuses  the  re- 
quest.  In  Buddhist  theory  there  is  no  conscious  being  to  hear 
or  to  will;  but  the  universe  is  such  that  prayer  has  a  certain 
amount  of  power  to  aid  in  bringing  about  its  own  answer.  It 
is,  if  you  like,  a  kind  of  magic.  In  this  world  in  which  physical 
forces  are  decidedly  secondary  to  moral  ones,  prayer  itself  is  a 
kind  of  force.  You  set  it  going  and  something  is  bound  to  re- 
sult.  Your  father  is  ill  and  you  pray  to  Lord  Buddha  for  his 
recovery;  or,  better  still,  you  have  certain  Pali  verses  chanted 
by  the  monks  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  One,  and  you  accompany 
the  prayer  or  verses  with  certain  offerings.   The  Blessed  One 
will  not  hear  anything  that  is  said  nor  take  any  note  of  your 
offerings;  but  these  prayers  and  ceremonies  will  in  themselves 
tend  to  restore  your  father  to  health.  They  will  not  do  so  in- 
fallibly any  more  than  the  prayer  of  the  Christian  will  do  so, 
for  there  are  a  great  number  of  other  moral  forces  at  work  and 
409 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

each  of  them  must  act  as  a  factor  in  the  total  result;  but  your 
prayer  is  sure  to  have  some  effect,  and  it  may  be  just  enough 
to  tip  the  scale.  Or,  you  have  sinned  and  you  pray  for  for- 
giveness or  do  whatever  corresponds  to  that  in  the  Buddhist 
ritual.  Your  prayer  is  not  heard  and  no  superior  being  takes 
pity  and  pardons  you;  but  your  prayer  is  itself  a  means  of 
acquiring  merit  and  of  counterbalancing  the  evil  Karma  which 
your  sin  piled  up.  Thus  in  a  very  real  sense  for  the  Buddhist 
all  prayer  is  efficient,  in  spite  of  the  fact  there  is  no  god  there 
to  hear  it. 

The  Law  of  Karma  thus  acts  as  a  very  pragmatic  god.  I 
must  point  out,  however,  that  the  Christian  God  does  one 
thing  for  the  Christian  which  Karma  can  never  do  for  the 
Buddhist.  In  enumerating  above  the  pragmatic  values  of  the 
idea  of  God,  I  left  out  what  to  many  will  seem  the  most  im- 
portant of  all.  I  refer  to  what  is  called  the  mystic  sense,  or 
the  feeling  of  God's  presence.  For  many  a  religious  person  — 
for  all  deeply  religious  Christians  —  this  sense  that  God  is 
near,  that  He  sees  and  knows  and  understands,  that  He  actu- 
ally does  hear,  forms  the  chief  value  of  the  religious  life.  This 
is  something  for  which  the  Law  of  Karma  offers  no  substi- 
tute. Individuals  who  prize  this  personal  relation  to  a  personal 
God  would  turn  sadly  away,  starved  and  unsatisfied,  if  you 
should  tell  them  that  the  universe  merely  acts  as  if  it  loved 
and  understood.  You  may  assure  them  that  it  will  give,  in  this 
life  and  the  next,  all  that  any  god  could  give,  and  they  will 
still  feel  cheated  of  the  best.  To  use  an  illustration  of  William 
James,  the  difference  is  that  between  loving  a  woman  and  lov- 
ing a  cunningly  devised  automaton  which  acts  as  if  it  loved 
you  and  were  conscious  of  your  love.  To  the  true  lover  there 
could  be  nothing  more  ghastly  than  the  discovery  that  his  be- 
loved is  really  an  unconscious  machine,  with  no  loving  heart 
back  of  its  deceptive  smile.  Better,  a  thousand  times  better, 
he  will  say,  that  I  had  laid  her  in  her  grave,  and  gone  mourning 
all  my  days,  than  that  I  should  learn  that  she  whom  I  loved 
had  really  never  been.  And  to  the  man  with  any  touch  of 
mysticism  in  him  nothing  could  be  more  ghastly  than  the 
discovery  that  this  universe,  which  he  had  taken  for  the  gar- 
ment of  God,  for  the  bodily  manifestation  of  the  Great  Com- 
410 


THE  VALUE  OF  BUDDHISM 

panlon,  had  in  reality  no  conscious  and  loving  spirit  at  its 
heart. 

It  is  the  lack  of  this  personal  touch  that  makes  the  Buddhist 
Karma  so  inferior  to  the  Christian  God  in  its  power  over  men's 
lives.  Neither  prudential  considerations  nor  moral  precepts, 
nor  even  admiration  for  dead  heroes  and  their  ideals,  ever  grip 
the  heart  of  a  man  in  the  way  that  personal  relations  to  per- 
sonal beings  always  do.  And  this,  I  think,  largely  explains  the 
undoubted  inferiority  of  Buddhism  to  Christianity  as  a  source 
of  happiness,  and  also  as  an  inspiration  for  the  moral  Hfe.  The 
relation  of  Buddhism  to  this  third  value  of  religion  must  now 
be  considered. 

Different  aspects  of  Buddhism  as  a  moral  religion  were 
necessarily  dealt  with  in  the  preceding  chapters,  hence  not  a 
great  deal  need  be  said  concerning  the  moral  value  of  Buddhism 
here.  I  do,  however,  want  to  point  out  that  the  whole  compli- 
cated question  of  the  ethics  of  Buddhism  becomes  very  much 
more  comprehensible  if  we  cease  to  think  of  Buddhism  as  a 
unitary  and  consistent  system,  and  regard  it  instead  as  an 
amalgam  of  the  three  quite  diflferent  elements  into  which  it 
was  analyzed  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter.  Each  of  these 
has  contributed  its  share,  and  the  result  is  that  strange  com- 
bination of  the  negative  and  the  positive,  the  puerile  and  the 
profound,  the  selfish  and  the  noble,  which  makes  the  moral 
teachings  of  Buddhism  so  difficult  to  understand. 

The  Brahmanistic  preconceptions  which  Gautama  was 
forced  to  bring  into  his  religion,  together  with  various  pop- 
ular accretions  that  have  been  added  since  his  time,  are 
responsible  for  the  "sanctions"  of  heaven,  hell,  rebirth,  and 
Nirv^ana,  which  have  played  the  same  large  part  in  the  life  of 
Buddhists  through  the  centuries  that  their  counterparts  have 
played  in  the  life  of  Christians  and  Mohammedans.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  many  a  Buddhist  is  withheld  from  sin 
and  propelled  toward  acts  of  virtue  by  the  thought  of  Karma 
and  the  hope  of  accumulating  a  goodly  store  of  merit.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  modes  of  acquiring  merit  are  not  always  intelli- 
gent or  uplifting.  In  spite  of  the  Buddha's  insistence  upon  the 
futility  of  merely  external  works,  the  various  ceremonies  at  the 
pagoda  or  in  the  home  are  thought  of  as  having  a  moral  value  of 
411 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

their  own  —  a  value  often  greater  in  merit-acquiring  power 
than  that  of  works  of  real  mercy  and  usefulness.  The  two  monk- 
disciples  of  the  Hermit  of  Mandalay  Hill  told  me  that  the  merit 
acquired  from  building  a  hospital  was  great,  but  far  greater  was 
that  which  came  from  building  a  pagoda.  And  this  is  the  com- 
mon view  all  over  Burma.  The  Buddha,  I  repeat,  would  have 
been  as  shocked  and  grieved  at  this  view  of  merit  as  any  one: 
and  yet  I  must  point  out  that  there  is  in  the  very  concept  of 
"acquiring  merit"  —  a  concept  which  the  Buddha  certainly 
held  —  something  essentially  immoral.    It  involves  the  idea 

—  either  directly  or  indirectly  —  that  "merit"  is  something 
to  be  measured  quantitatively,  that  it  is  a  personal  possession 
which  may  be  acquired  and  stored  up  and  weighed  and  handed 
about.  This  notion  of  it  is  carried  to  its  extreme  in  the  ortho- 
dox Buddhist  doctrine  of  reversible  merit.  That  one  may  ac- 
quire merit  and  hand  it  over  to  some  one  else  who  has  done 
nothing  to  gain  it,  though  obviously  inconsistent  with  the 
spirit  of  Gautama's  teaching,  is  not  only  common  belief, 
among  the  laity  and  monks  alike,  but  is  good  orthodox  doc- 
trine which  may  be  defended  by  quoting  chapter  and  verse 
from  the  Pitakas  —  as  the  learned  and  enthusiastic  Buddhist, 
Mr.  F.  L.  Woodward,  has  done  in  the  "Buddhist  Review"  for 
January,  19 14. 

But  even  aside  from  this  almost  materialistic  extension  of 
"merit,"  the  emphasis  which  one  finds  so  repeatedly  in  Bud- 
dhist writings  and  Buddhist  thought  upon  acquiring  merit 
presents  exactly  the  wrong  view  of  a  good  act,  focusing  the 
attention  necessarily  on  the  reward  that  one  is  to  get  out  of  it. 
Self-forgetfulness  on  this  plan  is  impossible;  and  the  Buddhist 

—  or  the  Christian  —  who  has  not  yet  learned  that  virtue 
must  be  its  own  reward,  if  it  is  to  be  virtue,  is  bound  to  be 
merely  a  more  or  less  prudent  egoist. 

Of  course  the  man  who  clings  to  the  pure  Buddhism  of  the 
Four  Noble  Truths,  so  far  as  he  thinks  of  "acquiring  merit" 
at  all,  means  by  it  the  growth  of  a  good  and  desirable  charac- 
ter; and  he  would  be  one  of  the  last  to  attribute  any  real  value 
to  external  performances  of  any  sort.  "Neither  the  study  of 
holy  books,"  said  the  Buddha,  "nor  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  nor 
sleeping  on  the  ground,  nor  difficult  and  strenuous  vigils,  nor 
412 


THE  VALUE  OF  BUDDHISM 

the  repetition  of  prayers  can  bring  purification  to  the  man  en- 
meshed in  delusion.  Neither  gifts  to  the  priests,  nor  self-casti- 
gation,  nor  the  performance  of  rites  and  ceremonies  can  work 
purification  to  him  who  is  filled  with  craving."  The  true  Brah- 
min —  the  man,  that  is,  really  worthy  of  reverence  —  is  not 
one  born  in  a  particular  caste  or  one  who  performs  certain  par- 
ticular rites;  but  the  man  who  has  conquered  himself  and  who 
gladly  follows  the  great  Law.  "Not  by  matted  locks,  nor  by 
lineage,  nor  by  caste  is  one  a  Brahmin:  he  is  the  Brahmin  in 
whom  are  truth  and  righteousness,  and  purity.  What  boots 
your  tangled  hair,  O  fool,  what  avails  your  garment  of  skins? 
You  have  adorned  the  outer  parts,  within  you  are  full  of  un- 
cleanliness.  Not  him  do  I  call  a  Brahmin  who  is  merely  born 
of  a  Brahmin  mother;  men  may  give  him  salutation  as  a  Brah- 
min, though  he  be  not  detached  from  the  world:  but  him  I  call 
a  Brahmin  who  has  attachment  to  nothing.  Him  I  call  a  Brah- 
min, indeed,  who  has  cut  all  fetters,  who  never  trembles,  is 
independent  and  unshackled.  Him  I  call  a  Brahmin,  indeed, 
who,  though  he  has  committed  no  offense,  endures  reproach, 
bonds,  and  stripes,  who  has  endurance  for  his  force,  and 
strength  for  his  army."  ^ 

It  is  the  inner  side  of  the  act  alone,  the  intention  of  the  will, 
that  counts.  Few  moralists  have  ever  laid  more  stress  on  the 
inwardness  of  true  morality  than  did  Gautania.  And  this  in- 
evitably :  for  the  whole  of  his  own  peculiar  teaching  is  a  psy- 
chical matter.  His  one  aim  is  psychological  —  the  proper 
training  of  the  mind.  Hence  all  external  acts  are  simply  irrel- 
evant. Hence  also  no  one  —  whether  god,  man,  or  devil  — 
can  really  help  or  harm  another.  In  the  life  of  self-culture  all 
external  appeal  is  simply  silly.  The  Buddha's  point  of  view  is 
well  summarized  in  his  last  words  to  his  disciples:  "Work  out 
your  own  salvation  with  diligence." 

The  great  moral  ideal  of  the  Buddhism  founded  upon  the 
Four  Noble  Truths  is  self-mastery.  "If  one  man  conquer  in 
battle  a  thousand  men,"  says  the  Dhammapada,  "and  if  an- 
other conquer  himself,  he  is  the  greatest  of  conquerors.  One's 
own  self  conquered  is  better  than  the  conquest  of  all  other 
people;  not  even  a  god,  a  demi-god,  not  Mara  with  Brahman 
1  Dhammapada,  393-99- 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

himself,  could  change  into  defeat  the  victory  of  a  man  who  has 
vanquished  himself,  and  always  lives  under  restraint."  And 
the  Buddha,  with  his  keen  psychological  insight,  saw  that 
self-conquest  and  self-control  meant  primarily  the  control  of 
the  mind,  the  mastery  of  one's  thoughts.  The  first  verse  of  the 
Dhammapada  reads:  "All  that  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we 
have  thought;  it  is  founded  on  our  thoughts,  it  is  made  up  of 
our  thoughts.  If  a  man  speaks  or  acts  with  an  evil  thought, 
pain  follows  him,  as  the  wheel  follows  the  foot  of  the  ox  that 
draws  the  carriage.  'He  abused  me,  he  beat  me,  he  defeated 
me'  —  in  those  who  harbor  such  thoughts  hatred  will  never 
cease.  For  hatred  does  not  cease  by  hatred  at  any  time :  hatred 
ceases  by  love;  this  is  an  old  rule.  He  who  lives  without  looking 
for  pleasures,  his  senses  well  controlled,  moderate  in  his  food, 
faithful  and  strong,  him  the  Tempter  will  certainly  not  over- 
throw, any  more  than  the  wind  throws  down  a  rocky  m.oun- 
tain."  "This  mind  of  mine  went  formerly  wandering  about 
as  it  liked;  but  I  shall  now  control  it  thoroughly,  as  the  rider 
who  holds  the  hook  controls  the  furious  elephant.  Be  not 
careless !  Watch  your  thoughts !  Draw  yourself  out  of  the  evil 
way,  as  an  elephant  does  who  is  sunk  in  mud."  ^ 

The  morality  of  self-control  and  self-culture  has  never  been 
carried  further  than  by  this  aspect  of  Buddhism.  Yet  it  is  a 
limited  kind  of  morality;  and  those  critics  who  insist  that 
Buddhist  ethics  are  purely  negative  have  in  mind  these  ethical 
teachings  that  spring  from  the  Four  Noble  Truths.  For,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  strictly  logical  conse- 
quences of  this  pure  but  narrow  Buddhist  doctrine  are  essen- 
tially egoistic.  The  one  virtue  that  it  really  gives  birth  to  is 
prudence.  Wherever  it  exists  unmingled  with  the  genuinely 
altruistic  feeling  which  I  have  called  the  third  element  in  the 
Buddha's  teaching,  it  results  in  a  type  of  character  which  is 
ever  looking  out  for  number  one,  with  a  coldly  calculating 
rationality  which  knows  to  a  hair  the  cash  value  to  self  of  every 
seemingly  unselfish  act.  Buddhism  has  few  apologists  so 
enthusiastically  sympathetic  as  Paul  Dahlke;  who  writes  as 
follows:  "That  cordiality  which  forgets  itself  for  others,  that 
affection  which  breeds  tenderness  and  emotion,  is  entirely 
1  Dhammapada,  i,  3.  5.  8,  326,  327- 
414 


THE   VALUE   OF   BUDDHISM 

wanting  here.  The  whole  moral  scheme  in  Buddhism  is  nothing 
but  a  sum  in  arithmetic  set  down  by  a  cold,  clear  egoism;  as 
much  as  I  give  to  others,  so  much  will  come  again  to  me. 
Karma  is  the  most  exact  arithmetician  in  the  world."  ^ 

The  man  whose  morality-  is  described  in  this  sentence  of 
Dahlke's  is  not  likely  to  be  capable  of  much  enthusiastic  de- 
votion to  a  great  cause.  The  Buddhist  monk  is  usually  "harm- 
less"; ahimsa,  harmlessness,  in  fact,  is  one  of  his  great  virtues. 
But  it  would  not  be  wise  to  go  to  the  monasteries  in  search 
of  a  hero.  There  is  something  about  the  Buddhist's  fear  of 
sorrow  that  seems  to  the  Western  mind  unaccountable,  if  not 
downright  pathological.  Is,  then,  sorrow  such  a  dreadful  thing? 
Is  there  nothing  else  so  bad? 

The  extreme  individualism  of  that  kind  of  Buddhism  which 
is  founded  on  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  and  which  is  represented 
in  the  quotation  above  from  Dahlke,  makes  social  and  coopera- 
tive work  among  the  Buddhists  almost  impossible.  The  mis- 
sionaries, at  any  rate,  of  both  Burma  and  Ceylon  will  tell  you 
that  the  Buddhists  of  their  acquaintance  seem  to  be  almost 
incapable  of  cooperation  with  each  other  in  any  common 
charitable  work  and  that  ver>'  few  care  to  try.  Charitable 
they  are,  extremely  so  at  times,  but  only  as  isolated  individuals. 
This  fact,  if  it  be  a  fact,  as  I  suppose  it  is,  would  at  any  rate 
follow  naturally  from  the  individualism  of  the  Four  Noble 
Truths.  Each  man's  great  task  is  to  cultivate  his  own  charac- 
ter, to  pile  up  merit  for  himself,  to  cut  all  ties  (social  as  well 
as  sinful) ,  and  to  get  out  of  this  evil  world  into  Nirv'ana  as 
soon  as  may  be.  The  Buddhist  ideals  are  all  individualistic; 
there  is  no  place  in  Buddhism  for  an  endeavor  to  make  this 
world  a  better  place  to  live  in,  to  build  up  a  new  social  order,  to 
bring  about  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  There  is  an  article  in 
the  "Buddhist  Review"  for  July,  1910,  which  is  interesting 
in  this  connection.  It  is  entitled  "  Buddhism  and  Social  Prob- 
lems," and  the  author,  Madame  Alexandra  David,  an  enthu- 
siastic Buddhist,  does  her  best  to  show  that  Buddhism  is  not 
out  of  line  with  the  modem  ideals  of  social  helpfulness.  The 
best  that  she  can  say  for  her  religion  is  that  it  might  make  war 
upon  ignorance  and  that  Gautama's  owti  spirit  of  love  and 
i  Op.  cit.,  p.  32. 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

helpfulness  is  what  the  sad  world  needs.  It  is  noticeable  that 
she  says  nothing  of  the  Four  Noble  Truths ;  and  as  I  have  so 
often  pointed  out,  Gautama's  altruistic  spirit  points  directly 
away  from  the  individualism  which  they  inculcate. 

But  the  spirit  of  Gautama  forms  after  all  the  dominant  note 
in  Buddhist  ethics.  The  universal  love  and  good-will  toward 
all  sentient  creatures  which  so  filled  his  teachings  and  his  life 
have  been  carried  by  Buddhism  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  and 
characterize  this  religion,  to  some  extent  at  least,  wherever 
it  is  found.  Thanks  to  this,  Buddhist  ethics,  on  the  whole,  is 
decidedly  positive  rather  than  negative.  It  will  vary,  of 
course,  as  embodied  in  different  individuals  according  to  the 
predominance  in  each  of  what  I  have  called  the  first,  second, 
or  third  elements.  In  an  individual  whose  Buddhism  consists 
merely  of  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  combined  with  various 
Indian  beliefs  and  superstitions,  we  shall  find  temperance, 
prudence,  purity,  long-suffering,  meekness,  charity,  but  all 
of  them  cultivated  in  a  coldly  calculating  spirit  with  an  eye 
on  the  main  chance.  On  the  other  hand,  wherever  the  loving 
spirit  of  the  Buddha  forms  an  important  constituent  in  a 
man's  morality  we  shall  have  a  result  worthy  of  genuine  re- 
spect. And  whenever  this  spirit  is  combined  with  the  self- 
mastery,  the  philosophical  attitude  of  mind,  the  poise  and 
self-reliance,  the  superiority  over  material  things  and  worldly 
pleasures,  the  independence  from  fortune,  and  the  courageous 
outlook  upon  the  future  which  come  from  the  acceptance  of 
the  Four  Noble  Truths  and  the  training  they  inculcate,  we 
have  a  type  of  character  which  for  strength  and  genuine  no- 
bility one  will  seldom  find  equaled. 

The  great  springs  of  power  for  the  moral  life  which  Bud- 
dhism furnishes  are,  then,  (i)  the  belief  in  Karma  and  retribu- 
tion; (2)  clear  understanding  of  the  sources  of  sorrow  and  the 
ideal  of  the  Great  Peace;  and  (3)  the  altruistic  teachings  of 
the  founder,  and  most  of  all  the  inspiration  that  comes  from 
his  example.  It  is  from  this  latter  especially  that  the  finest 
flowers  of  Buddhist  morality  have  sprung.  Its  influence  is 
probably  most  obvious  among  the  members  of  the  new  reform 
movement;  but  one  meets  with  it  also  among  much  more 
simple  and  less  learned  men.  The  first  Buddhist  with  whom  I 
416 


THE   VALUE   OF  BUDDHISM 

became  acquainted  in  Ceylon  gave  me  a  new  insight  into  the 
manner  in  which  the  spirit  of  Gautama  might  permeate  many 
a  common  follower  of  his,  and  express  itself  in  all  his  words 
and  actions.  The  reader  may  not  be  uninterested  in  a  short 
account  of  this  man  as  I  knew  him. 

It  was  in  the  Temple  of  the  Tooth  at  Kandy  that  I  made 
my  first  acquaintance  in  this  land  "where  every  prospect 
pleases  and  only  man  is  vile."  The  temple  was  thronged  by 
thousands  of  worshipers,  —  for  it  was  the  evening  of  the  full 
moon,  —  and  the  monks  at  every  shrine  were  busy  heaping 
up  the  white  jasmine  flowers  at  the  feet  of  the  Buddha  and 
tending  the  hundreds  of  tiny  flickering  candles  which  the  pil- 
grims had  brought  in  token  of  their  devotion  to  the  Blessed 
One.  We  had  seen  most  of  the  usual  sights  and  had  reached 
that  part  of  the  temple  known  as  the  "Great  Eastern  Library," 
where  I  was  busy  endeavoring  to  make  an  appointment  with 
one  of  the  monks  for  an  interview  two  days  later.  The  monk 
spoke  only  a  little  English,  and  as  I  was  tr>'ing  to  make  him 
understand  me,  a  young  Ceylonese,  who  had  considerable 
command  over  our  language,  came  to  my  assistance  and  helped 
me  to  make  the  appointment.  It  was  evident  that  an  inter- 
preter would  be  useful  at  the  interview,  and  the  young  man 
said  that  if  he  could  arrange  to  be  in  town  at  the  time  he  would 
like  to  help  us;  though  he  feared  this  would  be  impossible,  as 
he  was  off  next  day  for  Matale  (his  home)  to  worship  at  the 
shrine  there,  and  could  hardly  return  for  several  days.  He 
added,  however,  that  if  I  wished  it,  he  would  give  up  his  trip 
to  Matale,  and  stay  to  act  as  my  interpreter  at  the  interview. 
Of  course,  I  assured  him  that  this  was  not  necessary,  and  that 
I  could  doubtless  find  some  one  else.  So  after  he  had  an- 
swered some  questions  of  mine  on  Buddhism,  and  had  warned 
me  against  giving  to  the  professional  beggars  in  the  temple, 
he  left  me,  asking,  however,  that  he  might  call  at  my  hotel  on 
the  following  Monday. 

The  next  day  the  mail  brought  me  this  note:  — 

Sir,  —  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  I  am  unable  to  prevent 
my  going  to  Matale,  I  who  accompanied  you  last  night  to  the  Great 
Eastern  Library.    I  hope  you  will  kindly  postpone  the  talk  with  the 

417 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

monk  concerning  Buddhism  till  Monday.  May  "Triple  Gem  "  keep  self 
and  lady  sound  and  healthy.  I  will  be  coming  on  Monday  to  meet  you 
at  your  hotel.  I  will  try  my  best  to  show  you  and  lady  even  something 
about  Buddhism.  I  remain,  sir, 

Yours  faithfully, 

V.  P.  H. 

A  few  minutes  later  a  telegram  was  brought  me,  which  also 
was  from  him  and  to  the  same  effect  as  the  note.  When  Mon- 
day came  he  arrived,  true  to  his  promise,  and  we  had  our  talk 
about  his  religion.  He  was,  he  told  me,  a  upasaka,  or  a  layman 
who  has  taken  upon  himself  certain  additional  vows  and  du- 
ties. I  asked  him  to  tell  me  more  in  detail  about  them.  Be- 
sides enumerating  the  various  vows  which  I  have  mentioned 
in  the  previous  chapter,  he  said  the  first  duty  of  the  upasaka 
was  to  wish  well  to  every  one,  —  never  to  think  of  any  one 
without  earnestly  desiring  for  him  the  best  things.  His  next 
duty  is  helpfulness  to  all  who  are  in  need.  "  If  I  come  upon  a 
man,"  he  said,  "who  needs  money,  I  must  give  it  him:  if  I  have 
no  money  I  must  give  him  my  coat."  The  eight  vows  which 
the  upasaka  takes  he  must  keep  not  only  in  the  letter  but  in 
the  spirit.  Thus  when  I  asked  my  new  friend  why  he  had  both 
written  and  telegraphed  to  let  me  know  that  he  could  not  keep 
an  appointment  which  had  never  been  definite  or  really  bind- 
ing, he  said,  "Oh,  that  was  the  Fourth  Precept  —  not  to  lie." 

On  the  day  following  our  talk,  much  to  my  surprise,  my 
new-found  friend  reappeared  and  offered  to  take  me  to  several 
places  of  interest  in  Kandy.  "Yesterday,"  he  said,  "I  came 
by  appointment;  to-day  I  come  as  upasaka  —  to  help  you." 
We  spent  the  day  visiting  various  monasteries  and  temples 
and  talking  with  the  monks;  and  on  the  day  following  he  took 
my  wife  and  me  out  to  Matale  to  show  us  the  famous  Alut 
Vihara,  or  monastery.  Matale,  as  I  have  said,  was  his  home, 
and  I  discovered  that  he  was  a  teacher  of  English  and  religion 
in  a  boys'  school  there,  and  that  he  had  been  granted  two 
weeks'  leave  —  which  he  was  spending,  evidently,  "as  upa- 
saka." The  Alut  Vihara  is  perched  on  a  rock  in  the  midst  of 
the  jungle.  You  approach  it  from  the  highway  by  a  narrow 
path,  and,  after  climbing  a  long  flight  of  steps,  you  come  upon 
the  monastery  gateway,  in  a  cleft  between  two  enormous 
418 


THE  VALUE  OF  BUDDHISM 

boulders.  To  your  left  is  a  rock-cut  temple,  with  a  large  reclin- 
ing Buddha,  carved  many  centuries  ago;  farther  up  is  the  cave 
in  which  Buddhaghosa,  the  famous  Buddhist  commentator  and 
missionary,  is  said  to  have  lived  and  copied  out  the  scriptures 
which  he  had  brought  from  India,  for  distribution  through- 
out Ceylon;  and  on  the  top  of  the  highest  rock,  commanding  a 
wonderful  outlook  over  palm-grove,  jungle,  and  mountain 
range,  is  a  sacred  dagoba,  shining  white  against  the  sky. 

It  was  interesting  to  watch  my  friend's  bearing  as  we  ap- 
proached the  monaster}^  and  to  see  his  reverence  —  of  both 
attitude  and  expression  —  whenever  we  entered  a  shrine. 
"  Here  is  our  Lord  Buddha,"  he  would  say  in  hushed  tones  as 
he  prostrated  himself  on  the  ground  before  the  image.  And 
whenever  a  monk  appeared,  or  even  a  little  novice  of  ten  years 
wearing  the  yellow  robe,- he  would  prostrate  himself  again. 

Of  the  future  of  Buddhism  he  was  quietly  confident.  It  was, 
he  told  me,  slowly  and  steadily  growing.  And  when  I  asked 
him  among  whom  it  was  making  its  converts,  he  answered  very 
simply:  "Among  the  Tamils  and  the  Germans."  Evidently 
the  zeal  of  German  Pali  scholars  is  appreciated  in  Ceylon. 
But  his  conversation  was  ever  returning  to  the  intrinsic  glories 
of  his  religion  and  to  the  thought  of  Nirvana.  This  (in  quite 
unorthodox  fashion)  he  described  as  "eternal  comfort,"  real 
and  conscious  joy;  and  he  was  always  busy  telling  us  of  the 
way  thither.  He  never  said  in  so  many  words  that  he  desired 
to  convert  us,  but  it  was  plain  that  this  was  his  wish.  "When 
you  are  gone  from  here,"  he  said,  "I  will  pray  for  you  ever>- 
day  to  the  Lord  Buddha  and  to  the  devatas.  I  will  pray  that 
you  should  be  safe  and  happy ;  but  most  of  all  that  you  should 
come  here  again  and  stay  a  long  time  and  learn  more  about 
Lord  Buddha  and  his  way  to  Nirvana!"^  And  at  another 
time,  quite  without  self-consciousness  or  any  touch  of  pride, 

Mn  a  letter  WTitten  by  my  friend  some  months  after  we  left  India  (for 
we  still  correspond),  this  same  wish  for  our  salvation  reappears.  He  writes: 
"I  will  not  forget  you,  gentleman  and  lady,  and  that  affection  will  I  hope 
not  efface  until  the  last  moment,  and  I  pray  Sakkiya  Muni  and  meditate 
to  take  the  said  affection  till  I,  we,  attain  Nirvana,  with  my  soul.  I  hope 
according  to  Buddha's  teachings  that  we  might  meet  to  the  same  place  and 
attain  Nirvana  —  the  everlasting  comfort.  Many  a  letters  reach  my  hand 
—  more  the  affection  arises  in  my  mind." 

419 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

he  said,  "Of  course,  if  I  could  bring  my  brother  to  Nirvana  by 
going  to  hell  myself,  I  should  want  to  do  so." 

Of  Christianity  he  knew  practically  nothing.  The  mission- 
aries, he  said,  were  very  good  people,  and  one  of  them  had  very 
recently  lent  him  three  books  which  he  meant  soon  to  read. 
Two  of  them,  he  said,  were  called  "Gospels,"  and  he  had  read 
two  chapters  in  one  of  them.  He  believed  Christianity  was 
probably  a  very  good  religion.  "But,"  he  added,  "I  feel  very 
sure  there  is  no  religion  like  that  of  Lord  Buddha :  for  it  leads 
us  to  Nirvana." 

I  told  him  that  I  found  many  fine  things  in  Buddhism,  but 
that  I  considered  the  attitude  of  those  monks  who  live  apart 
from  the  world  to  save  their  own  souls  extremely  selfish. 
"Yes,"  he  said,  "it  is  selfish.  And  not  all  the  monks  do  it, 
though  some  do.  But  it  is  not  the  true  Buddhism;  it  is  not 
what  the  Lord  Buddha  did.  The  true  Buddhist  wants  to  help 
everybody,  and  so  be  like  the  Blessed  One." 

To  this  Buddhist,  at  any  rate,  kindness  was  not  a  matter  of 
preaching  only,  but  a  real  part  of  life.  It  beamed  from  his  face 
and  was  unmistakable  in  his  smile  and  showed  itself  in  in- 
numerable little  acts.  He  never  called  on  me  without  bringing 
some  little  gift  for  my  "lady,"  —  a  cocoanut,  perhaps,  or  some 
such  simple  thing.  When  we  were  on  our  way  to  visit  a  mon- 
astery, he  would  stop  on  the  road  and  buy  some  pan  leaf  and 
betel  nut  and  fruit  for  the  monks.  And  he  never  saw  a  really 
needy  beggar  in  the  street  (and  in  Ceylon  there  are  many 
beggars  in  the  streets)  without  giving  him  something.  In  the 
last  talk  I  had  with  him,  just  before  we  parted  in  the  Matale 
railway  station,  he  took  from  his  pocket  what  was  evidently 
a  treasure,  carefully  unwrapped  the  protecting  paper  and 
showed  it  to  us.  It  was  a  small  thin  sheet  of  brass,  in  the  form 
of  a  pipal  leaf,  and  on  it  was  roughly  etched  a  seated  Buddha. 
"This,"  he  said,  "keeps  me  safe  from  evil  spirits.  Two  thou- 
sand Pali  verses  have  been  said  over  this  by  the  monks.  It  is 
very  precious  and  I  always  carry  it  with  me.  It  keeps  me  safe." 
I  examined  the  talisman  closely,  and  when  he  saw  my  interest 
he  hesitated  some  moments,  apparently  in  thought,  and  then 
said,  "If  you  would  like  this,  you  may  keep  it." 

Although  he  had  served  me  for  several  days  as  guide  and 
420 


THE  VALUE   OF   BUDDHISM 

interpreter,  he  would  not  take  anything  from  me  in  pa\Tnent; 
and  the  only  thing  he  asked  was  that  I  should  give  him  a 
general  letter  of  introduction  to  strangers  in  Kandy  notifying 
them  that  he  would  like  the  opportunity  of  showing  them  about 
the  city  and  its  environs  without  any  remuneration. 

When  he  had  seen  us  into  our  compartment  for  Kandy  and 
said  his  last  good-byes,  he  put  his  hands  together  and  said, 
quite  simply :  "May  Lord  Buddha  keep  you !  May  devata  keep 
you!"  —  and  disappeared.  In  two  hours  more  we  had  reached 
Kandy  and  our  hotel,  and  a  few  minutes  later  I  received  a 
telegram.  It  was  from  our  friend,  and  it  read,  "May  lady  and 
self  travel  healthily."   It  was  his  way  of  saying  Bon  voyage! 

This  was  my  first  acquaintance  in  Ceylon.  My  last  was  no 
less  interesting  and  no  less  filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  Buddha. 
He  is  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Maha-Bodhi  movement  and  he 
gives  up  his  entire  time  to  spreading  the  reform.  The  only  re- 
ward he  looks  for  or  cares  for  in  this  life  or  in  the  other  is  just 
the  doing  of  his  duty.  In  our  last  talk  together,  the  evening 
before  I  sailed  back  for  Europe,  we  were  discussing  Pari- 
nirvana,  and  when  I  asked  him  if  he  desired  it  for  himself,  he 
said :  "As  a  fact  I  do  not.  What  I  should  like  best  would  be  an 
endless  succession  of  lives  in  this  world  so  that  I  might  use 
them  all  in  helping  other  people." 

These  are  examples  of  individuals;  but,  as  almost  all  those 
who  know  the  Burmese  will  testify,  the  influence  of  Buddhism 
over  a  whole  people  as  a  people,  both  for  morality  and  for  hap- 
piness, is  very  considerable.  Its  influence,  of  course,  is  not  all 
for  the  good,  and  it  has  its  weaknesses  and  its  evil  tendencies, 
as  I  have  tried  unsparingly  to  show.  Yet  it  does  work  a  cer- 
tain gentleness  of  spirit  and  add  a  subtle  charm  to  life  which 
are  not  to  be  mistaken,  and  which  are  manifest  not  only  in  the 
individual  but  in  the  community  as  well.  To  see  this  at  its 
purest  one  should  go  not  to  the  large  centers  but  to  some  iso- 
lated village  on  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Irrawaddy,  far  re- 
moved from  European  influence,  and  try  with  sympathetic 
mind  to  inhale  the  spirit  of  the  people  and  of  their  religion. 
It  is  here  that  one  finds  the  actual  Buddhism  of  the  twentieth 
century  in  its  living  form  among  the  lowly. 

Whenever  I  turn  my  thoughts  back  toward  the  East  and 
421 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

try  to  focus  them  upon  Buddhism,  the  first  picture  that  comes 
to  my  mind's  eye  is  one  of  these  Irrawaddy  villages  —  any 
one  of  a  considerable  number  that  the  traveler  passes  on  the 
Irrawaddy  steamer.  A  crowd  of  quiet  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren is  waiting  for  us  at  the  landing  as  the  steamer  turns  in 
toward  the  shore,  noses  upstream,  and  makes  fast.  Most  of 
the  village  has  come  down  to  see  the  big  boat  land,  greet  re- 
turning travelers,  and  speed  those  who  are  departing,  or  to 
carry  on  board  the  day's  catch  of  fish  or  the  day's  product  of 
sun-baked  and  hand-modeled  pottery.  The  returning  pas- 
sengers walk  over  the  gangplank  and  join  the  throng  on  the 
shore  —  women  with  babies  strapped  to  their  backs,  pretty 
girls  in  their  best  silks,  young  men  in  equally  brilliant  and 
tasteful  colors,  two  Buddhist  monks  in  their  yellow  and  orange 
robes  —  all  spotlessly  clean  and,  to  all  appearances,  quietly  and 
calmly  happy.  In  mysterious  fashion  some  scent  of  eternal 
youth  seems  to  cling  to  the  garments  of  these  Burmese  of  the 
villages  —  even  to  the  garments  of  the  old  men  and  women. 
Their  perpetual  outdoor  life,  their  sweet  neighborly  relation- 
ships, the  endless  sunshine,  and,  shall  we  add,  also  the  dignity 
and  calm  of  their  religion,  have  got  reflected  in  their  natures 
like  the  blue  sky  in  the  bosom  of  the  Irrawaddy,  so  that  the 
stranger,  at  any  rate,  fancies  he  finds  in  them  a  simplicity  and 
serenity  that  make  all  ages  of  life  quiet  yet  youthful,  and  that 
are  all  too  rare  in  our  hustling  West,  which  is  at  once  so  young 
and  so  very  old. 

The  crowd  is  now  dispersing  —  the  little  children  for  their 
beds,  the  men  and  women  to  their  homes,  or  to  some  shrine, 
the  monks  to  their  monasteries  and  their  devotions.  If  you 
follow  the  throng  and  climb  the  ridge  above  the  river  where 
the  village  stands,  you  will  find  first  of  all  a  group  of  pagodas 
and  rest-houses,  some  new  and  many  old,  each  with  its  image 
of  the  Buddha.  There  are  more  than  a  dozen,  altogether,  and 
the  oldest  ones  —  tokens  of  the  piety  of  some  long-gone  gen- 
eration —  are  now  lapsing  into  quiet  ruin,  the  little  inner 
chamber  in  which  the  Buddha  sits  filled  with  a  wild  growth  of 
fern  up  to  his  feet,  as  though  Nature,  too,  were  eager  to  pay 
its  reverence  to  him  who  was  the  Light  of  Asia,  In  the  larger 
shrines  you  will  find  a  few  old  women  kneeling  on  the  matting ; 
422 


BY    AN    IRRAWADDY    VILLAGE 


THE  VALUE   OF   BUDDHISM 

each  holding  a  rose  or  a  cosmos  blossom  or  lotus  in  her  clasped 
hands,  with  a  rosary  wound  round  one  of  her  fingers,  as  she 
whispers  her  evening  prayer  and  alternately  touches  her  head 
to  the  floor  and  then  gazes  upward  at  the  calm  face  of  the 
great  Buddha.  There  are  one  or  two  men  present  also,  and  if 
you  wait  a  family  party  may  come  in,  father  and  mother  and 
two  or  three  small  children,  or  a  group  of  young  men  and  maid- 
ens. Their  gentle  laughter  and  soft  voices  cease  as  they  enter 
the  shrine,  and  all  kneel,  and  holding  flowers  in  their  hands 
murmur  their  prayers.  No  priest  or  preacher  here,  no  mediator, 
no  spiritual  authority,  no  cringing  fear,  no  blood  to  be  shed 
or  money  to  be  offered  —  just  one  individual  soul  and  another 
reaching  out  toward  the  Determiner  of  Destiny  in  the  way 
taught  them  by  the  Great  Teacher  of  Asia.  True,  they  often 
fail  to  understand  the  words  of  the  prayers  they  utter.  But 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  without  understanding  the  words 
they  often  understand  the  prayers.  No  one  who  watches  them 
can  fail  to  see  that  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  present  —  the  out- 
pouring of  their  hearts'  need,  the  spirit  of  thankfulness  and  of 
aspiration  toward  the  great  ideal  of  purity  and  peace  of  which 
the  alabaster  image  before  them  eternally  speaks.  And  never 
did  image  better  represent  its  prototype.  Fresh  flowers  in  a 
dozen  vases  line  the  lotus  at  its  feet,  and  little  candles,  lighted 
by  fervent  worshipers,  mingle  with  the  last  rays  of  day  in  the 
darkening  shrine,  just  as  the  prayers  and  the  praises  ascend 
to  him  who  has  long  since  entered  into  Nirvana.  The  calm  of 
the  Buddha's  face  is  not  broken :  in  the  Eternal  Peace  he  notes 
neither  worship  nor  neglect.  One  by  one  the  worshipers  de- 
part, the  sunlight  dies,  the  flowers  wilt,  the  candles  go  out. 
But  in  the  darkness  as  well  as  in  the  light  the  Eternal  Peace 
broods  over  the  head  of  the  great  Buddha. 

A  scene  like  this  makes  one  ask  one's  self  how  he  would  feel 
if  we  succeeded  in  converting  these  "heathen"  Burmese,  broke 
their  "  idols,"  tore  down  all  their  shrines,  and  built  on  the  high 
ridge  where  the  pagodas  had  been  a  Baptist  church  and  a 
Methodist  church.  And  this  question  I  put  in  all  seriousness. 
What  would  be  the  gains  and  what  the  losses?  First  of  all, 
there  would  be  a  loss  in  picturesqueness,  certainly  —  and  this 

423 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

would  be  a  great  loss  to  the  tourist  —  and  consequently  a 
loss  to  the  Irrawaddy  Flotilla  Company,  Limited.  Yet  one 
may  question  whether  the  christianized  Burmese  would  lose 
all  his  picturesqueness.  He  need  not  change  his  costume  for 
our  dull  colors  merely  because  he  changes  his  creed.  Nor  need 
he  necessarily  choose  as  the  type  of  his  ecclesiastical  architec- 
ture the  brick-and-mortar  edifices  of  our  Middle  West.  Cer- 
tainly one  who  doubts  whether  Christianity  is  consistent  with 
picturesqueness  of  architecture  and  landscape  has  failed  to 
travel  in  Italy  or  the  Tyrol  —  or  for  that  matter  in  England, 
or  even  New  England.  And,  after  all,  is  not  our  great  concern 
for  the  picturesque  a  trifle  selfish?  Should  we  not  ask,  first, 
What  would  be  the  result  of  Christianity  upon  the  Burmese 
themselves? 

The  answer  to  this  question  will  depend  wholly  upon  the 
type  of  Christianity  proposed.  I  can  imagine  a  converted  Bur- 
mese village  with  a  Baptist  church  at  one  end,  a  Methodist  at 
the  other,  and  a  Presbyterian  and  Roman  Catholic  in  the 
middle,  each  aspiring  after  the  highest  steeple  and  the  biggest 
bell,  each  rent  with  theological  controversies,  casting  out  her- 
etics, and  predicting  eternal  damnation  to  all  but  themselves, 
each  putting  a  premium  on  artificial  emotion  and  holding  ex- 
perience meetings  for  the  production  of  hypocritical  confes- 
sions and  pious  cant.  Or,  I  can  picture  the  village  street  lined 
with  fat  priests  who  should  sow  superstitious  fears  among  their 
converts  by  means  of  which  they  would  extort  endless  con- 
tributions for  masses,  candles,  and  indulgences.  And  I  can 
think  that  the  last  state  of  such  a  village  would  be  worse  than 
the  first;  —  and  that  in  spite  of  their  acceptance  of  "Salvation 
by  Faith"  or  of  the  "Blessed  Trinity,"  they  would  be  better 
off  by  a  return  to  the  quiet  and  simple  adoration  of  him  who 
taught  the  Great  Peace  and  showed  the  way  to  it.  But  I  can 
also  conceive  of  a  Burmese  village  in  which  the  Buddha  might 
still  be  honored  and  loved,  but  which  had  caught  some  of  the 
spirit  of  a  still  greater  Teacher,  whose  message  was  more  sim- 
ple than  the  Buddha's,  whose  insight  into  the  secrets  of  the 
spirit  was  certainly  no  less  deep,  whose  example  was  no  less 
inspiring,  and  who  also  taught  the  Great  Peace  and  pointed 
out  to  it,  as  I  believe,  a  more  excellent  way. 


CHAPTER  XX 

CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

ON  the  value  of  Christian  missions  to  India  from  the  phil- 
anthropic and  educational  point  of  view,  I  shall  say  but 
little;  for  on  this  subject  there  can  be,  and  indeed  there  is, 
practically  but  one  opinion.  From  the  beginning  of  this  gal- 
lant venture  till  to-day  the  missionary  has  taken  the  great  woes 
of  this  sad  land  to  his  heart,  and  in  imitation  of  his  Master  he 
has  not  been  content  with  preaching  the  Gospel,  but  has  given 
his  life  also  to  healing  the  sick,  comforting  the  sorrowful,  feed- 
ing the  famine-stricken,  caring  for  the  orphan,  and  teaching 
young  men  and  little  children.  One  is  uncertain  whether  to 
admire  most  the  missionary  hospitals  or  the  missionary  schools 
and  colleges,  both  of  which  have  been  brought  to  such  a  re- 
markable development.  He  who  is  ignorant  of  the  educational 
and  philanthropic  work  that  has  been  done  and  is  being  done 
by  the  Christian  missionary  in  India,  and  in  other  "mission 
fields,"  is  blind  to  one  of  the  most  important  movements  of 
our  times.  The  opponents  of  Christianity  are  not  among  this 
number  of  the  blind,  but,  whether  willingly  or  unwillingly,  are 
forced  to  recognize  a  fact  which  is  so  patent  that  none  can 
deny  it.  Let  me  quote  from  two  Hindus  on  this  subject.  The 
first  is  Mr.  Jnan  Chandra  Banerji,  who,  in  an  attempt  to 
prove  that  Christianity  can  never  convert  India,  takes  occasion 
to  write  as  follows:  — 

"All  over  India  the  missionaries  are  taking  a  most  important 
share  in  training  the  young  through  various  missionary  col- 
leges. In  fact  they  count  among  their  number  some  of  the 
most  prominent  educationists  of  the  day.  In  times  of  drought 
and  famine  they  carry  food  and  clothing  to  the  sick,  and  nurse 
and  tend  them.  In  our  fights  against  oppression,  they  alone 
among  Anglo-Indians  come  to  our  assistance.  And  the  major- 
ity of  the  missionaries  sympathize  with  our  political  aspira- 
tions, as  expressed  through  our  congresses  and  conferences. 

425 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

All  this  forms  a  record  of  which  the  missionaries  may  well  be 
proud."  ^ 

The  other  quotation  is  from  a  writer  in  a  Hindu  paper:  — 

"The  Christian  religion  is  truly  fruitful  in  practical  philan- 
thropy to  an  extent  unparalleled  in  the  case  of  any  other  reli- 
gion. Whatever  may  be  its  theoretical  faults  and  philosophical 
incompleteness  (one  can  aflford  to  let  that  pass),  here  it  stands 
head  and  shoulders  over  every  other  religion.  By  its  side  the 
most  ancient  religions  and  the  grandest  philosophical  systems 
of  the  world  sink  into  insignifiance  as  a  motive  for  philan- 
thropic action."  ^ 

In  every  movement,  moreover,  for  social  betterment,  in 
every  attack  on  the  evils  of  Indian  society,  the  Christian  mis- 
sionary has  played  a  leading  part.  And  not  only  so;  but  from 
his  example  has  come  the  impetus  that  has  set  India  to  re- 
forming itself.  In  Chapter  IX  we  saw  that  there  are  many 
native  movements  afoot  for  charitable  work  and  social  service 
in  India;  but  none  of  these  were  started  or  faintly  conceived  of 
until  the  missionary'  had  blazed  the  way. 

Concerning  the  value  of  missionary  activity  in  all  these  di- 
rections, there  is,  as  I  have  said,  no  difference  of  opinion;  be- 
cause, indeed,  here  we  are  not  in  the  realm  of  opinion,  but  are 
deahng  with  undeniable  facts.  And  much  the  same  unanim- 
ity is  to  be  found  on  the  further  question  of  the  evangelical 
activity  of  the  missionaries  among  the  lowest  classes  of  the 
Indian  population,  —  the  outcastes  and  the  animistic  tribes 
who  are  too  low  for  Hinduism  to  touch.  It  is  from  these  that 
Christianity  is  making  the  great  bulk  of  its  converts;  and 
many  a  Hindu  looks  on  with  approval  at  the  process  and  wishes 
the  missionary  Godspeed.  In  fact,  there  can  be  no  question 
of  the  great  value  of  Christian  activity  among  these  low  and 
despised  millions.  The  religion  of  these  various  peoples  is  a 
base  form  of  animism  and  magic,  which  has  not  the  remotest 
relation  to  morality.  They  are  the  prey  of  superstitious  fears 
and  ignoble  customs,  the  slaves  of  impulse,  with  no  defense 
in  public  opinion  or  cultured  self-control  against  the  various 

^  "The  Future  of  Christianity  in  India,"  reprinted  from  the  Hindustan 
Review  (Lahore,  1904),  pp.  15-16. 

2  Quoted  by  Farquhar,  The  Crown  of  Hinduism,  pp.  277-78. 

426 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

forms  of  vice  and  temptation  to  which  they  are  exposed.  To 
make  anything  of  such  people  might  well  seem  hopeless;  but 
many  a  missionar>^  has  wagered  his  life  on  the  outcome.  And 
the  result  is  that  all  over  India,  in  jungle  and  in  cit>%  a  trans- 
formation is  being  wrought  in  the  dregs  of  Hindu  society 
which  none  but  the  Christian  missionary  had  dared  to  hope 
for.  I  do  not  mean  that  anything  sudden  or  miraculous  has 
happened;  but  that  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  these 
various  races,  their  eyes  have  been  opened  to  the  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  and  they  are  really  tr>'ing  —  with 
many  a  relapse,  to  be  sure,  but  still  trying  and  with  consider- 
able success  — ■  to  give  up  drunkenness,  theft,  violence,  and 
immorality,  together  with  their  magic  and  the  most  degrading 
of  their  superstitions,  and  to  live  decent  lives  and  obey  the 
missionary'.  I  have  myself  seen  something  of  the  Bihls  in 
Gujerati  and  the  Doms  in  the  city  of  Benares,  and  these  are 
t>'pical,  I  believe,  of  the  jungle  animists  and  city  outcastes  all 
over  India;  and  I  can  testify  to  the  admirable  work  that  has 
been  done  among  them  —  admirable  both  for  the  unstinted 
devotion  which  it  involves  and  for  the  excellent  results  that 
have  been  attained. 

So  much  for  the  philanthropic  activity  of  the  missionaries 
and  their  evangelical  work  among  the  lower  classes.  Thus  far 
we  have  met  with  no  real  problem,  but  only  with  facts  —  facts 
which  may  be  learned  by  consulting  any  one  of  a  number  of 
missionary  manuals.  But  when  we  come  to  deal  with  the 
effort  of  the  missionary  to  make  converts  from  among  the  ad- 
herents of  the  six  highly  developed  religions  that  have  been 
dealt  with  in  this  book,  we  face  a  question  upon  which  there 
is  by  no  means  a  unanimity  of  opinion  among  intelligent  peo- 
ple, whether  in  India  or  in  Christendom.  Both  the  missionary 
and  his  message  and  the  very  idea  of  a  Christian  propaganda 
are  being  very  stoutly  attacked;  and  we  should  do  well  not  to 
hold  our  ears  nor  listen  merely  to  our  pre-formed  opinions,  but 
to  give  both  sides  a  hearing. 

And  in  the  beginning  it  must  be  said  that  when  one  goes  for 
the  first  time  to  a  non-Christian  land  and  makes  the  acquaint- 
ance of  non-Christian  gentlemen,  he  finds  that  the  missionaries 
appear  in  a  light  which  he  never  had  guessed  irom  the  perusal 
427 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

of  his  missionary  manuals  at  home.  As  a  young  friend  of  mine 
now  residing  in  Burma  put  it:  "Before  I  came  out  I  pictured 
the  natives  waiting  with  impatience  for  the  arrival  of  the  mis- 
sionary, hungering  and  thirsting  for  the  words  of  truth  that 
should  fall  from  his  lips,  and  calling  us  to  deliver  their  land 
from  Error's  chain.  When  I  reached  here  I  found  that  the 
Burmese  got  on  very  well  by  themselves  without  the  mission- 
ary, did  n't  want  him,  and  were  usually  quite  indifferent  to 
what  he  said  or  did."  The  "natives,"  in  short,  take  the  mis- 
sionary in  much  the  same  light  as  they  take  the  soldier  or  the 
merchant,  or  the  civil  servant.  In  general  they  regard  him  as 
one  of  the  many  who  have  come  out  to  India  to  make  a  living, 
—  and  in  fact  as  one  who  has  been  uncommonly  successful  at 
it.  If  the  average  Indian  could  hear  the  remarks  so  often  made 
in  England  and  America  about  the  privations  and  self-sacri- 
fice of  the  missionary  he  would  be  astonished  and  probably 
would  be  inclined  to  smile.  It  has  never  entered  into  his  head 
that  the  missionary's  life  is  one  of  privation.  For  he  sees  the 
missionary  living  in  a  style  which,  compared  with  his  own  fru- 
gal life,  he  must  consider  luxurious;  in  possession  usually  of  a 
large  compound,  and  a  pleasant  house  tastefully  furnished, 
with  plenty  of  good  food,  many  books,  and  seemingly  any 
amount  of  leisure.  More  than  one  Indian  has  pointed  out  to 
me  the  contrast  between  the  comforts  and  possessions  of  the 
Christian  missionary  and  the  poverty  of  the  Hindu  sannyasi, 
the  Mohammedan  saint,  or  the  Jaina  or  Buddhist  monk.^  The 
missionary,  as  they  put  it,  lives  only  less  well  than  the  officers 
of  the  civil  service.  Both  have  come  out  for  "careers,"  and 
both  have  found  uncommonly  good  ones.  I  am  not  writing 
this  in  any  spirit  of  criticism  upon  the  missionary.  Personally 
I  consider  his  profession  one  of  the  most  truly  unselfish  to  be 

^  Still  more  striking  to  the  Indian  is  the  contrast  between  the  poverty 
of  his  own  holy  men  and  the  comparative  wealth  of  certain  Christian 
clergymen  at  home.  One  Indian  writes  thus:  "  From  the  time  of  the  ancient 
Rishis,  the  lessons  of  plain  living  and  high  thinking  were  carefully  taught 
to  the  Brahmacharis,  and  rigidly  practiced  by  the  Gurus,  Pundits,  and 
Purohits,  in  their  daily  life.  Such  being  the  case,  the  sight  of  bishops  and 
archbishops  rolling  in  wealth,  living  in  palaces,  and  voting  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  calls  up  anything  but  reverent  feelings  in  the  mind  of  the  average 
Hindu."   (Jnan  Chandra  Banerji,  op.  cit.,  p.  12,) 

428 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

found  in  the  world.  The  Indian  does  not  understand  how 
much  the  missionary  has  given  up,  nor  what  it  means  for  him 
to  leave  home  behind,  send  his  children  away  from  him  half- 
way round  the  world  when  the  time  comes  for  their  education, 
and  spend  his  life  among  a  people  that  can  never  really  under- 
stand him,  and  in  a  land  whose  scorching  summer  heat  and 
countless  pests  are  an  unending  source  of  discomfort  or  danger 
to  the  European.  I  am  glad  that  the  missionary  has  a  few  of 
the  comforts  of  home  in  his  self-imposed  exile.  He  ought  to 
have  them.  And  yet  I  see  now,  as  I  did  not  see  before  I  went 
to  India,  how  the  Indian  views  the  matter,  and  how  inevitable 
it  is  that  he  should  so  view  it. 

And  while  I  would  not  criticize  the  missionaries  for  their  com- 
forts, I  would  criticize  some  of  them  for  their  unsympathetic 
attitude  toward  Indian  thought,  religion,  and  civilization. 
Perhaps  it  is  natural  that  they  should  take  this  attitude;  for 
many  of  them  feel  that  they  have  come  out  expressly  for  the 
purpose  of  attacking  these  things.  Whether  or  not  they  are 
justified  in  this  view  of  their  mission,  it  is  at  any  rate  unfor- 
tunate that  they  do  not  make  the  effort  to  understand  better 
than  they  sometimes  do  the  best  things  in  the  religion  which 
they  are  seeking  to  replace.  Rabindranath  Tagore  said  to  me : 
"The  Indians  feel  that  the  missionaries  do  not  understand 
them  and  do  not  care  to;  and  they  are  unwilling  to  accept 
anything  from  an  unsympathetic  source.  No  one  doubts,  of 
course,  that  the  missionaries  are  moral  and  good  men.  But  the 
Indian  feels  that  it  is  the  missionary's  business  to  be  moral. 
He  is  a  professional  missionary  and  gets  his  living  by  it,  —  it 
is  a  kind  of  trade.  The  born  missionary  —  the  man  all  aflame 
with  the  spirit  of  God  —  has  indeed  a  great  influence  for  good 
in  India.  But  there  are  not  many  of  these  anywhere  —  not 
many  are  born.  There  are  many  missionaries,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  are  just  soldiers  with  a  priest's  garb  instead  of  a  red 
coat." 

Another  aspect  of  this  lack  of  sympathy  in  things  Indian 
is  a  certain  narrowness  which  one  finds  in  some  missionaries 
—  a  narrowness  which  is  often  only  the  reverse  side  of  a  noble 
earnestness.  Fortunately  this  is  much  less  common  now  than 
it  was  a  few  years  ago.  Yet  even  to-day  one  will  come  upon 
429 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

good  men,  or  more  often  good  women,  in  the  mission  field  who 
are  apparently  quite  sure  that  God  hath  left  Himself  without  a 
witness  in  all  lands  but  Palestine,  and  that  the  Word  of  God 
which  is  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments is  the  only  rule  to  direct  us  how  we  may  glorify  and 
enjoy  Him.* 

I  must  say,  however,  that  the  impression  I  have  derived 
from  the  missionaries  I  have  met  personally  is  extremely 
favorable.  I  made  a  point  in  India  —  as  I  did  a  dozen  years 
before  in  the  Turkish  Empire  —  to  get  acquainted  with  the 
missionaries  and  see  their  work  at  close  quarters ;  and  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  not  only  that  they  are  the  most  devoted  group 

1  Shivanath  Shastri,  the  venerable  leader  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  told  me 
an  experience  of  his  illustrating  the  attitude  of  this  type  of  missionary.  He 
was  returning,  several  years  ago,  to  India  from  England,  and  two  mission- 
aries who  were  on  the  steamer  watched  him  with  some  curiosity  as  he  read 
now  from  Confucius,  now  from  the  Koran,  now  from  the  Bible,  etc.  At 
last  their  curiosity  could  be  restrained  no  longer,  and  they  asked  him  what 
religion  he  professed.  He  answered,  "Universal  Theism."  To  this  they  re- 
plied that  there  really  was  but  one  true  religion,  and  that  was  contained  in 
God's  only  revelation  —  namely,  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Mr.  Shas- 
tri thereupon  challenged  them  to  name  some  religious  truth  contained  in 
the  Bible  and  found  nowhere  else.  They  were  not  slow  with  their  reply,  and 
triumphantly  named  the  "Golden  Rule."  Mr.  Shastri  immediately  turned 
to  Confucius  and  then  to  the  Talmud  and  read  them  the  same  injunction 
from  both  of  these.  But  this  had  no  effect  on  the  missionaries.  They  were, 
to  be  sure,  considerably  surprised;  but  they  answered:  "Ah,  well,  you  know 
the  Devil,  too,  can  inspire  men  to  write  the  truth."  To  which  Mr.  Shastri 
responded:  "Gentlemen,  you  have  disarmed  me;  there  is  nothing  I  can 
reply  to  that!" 

The  change  that  has  come  about  in  the  attitude  of  the  missionaries  them- 
selves in  the  last  fifty  years  is  clearly  put  by  Dr.  Clough:  "At  that  time 
[1864,  the  year  when  he  went  out  to  India  as  missionary  to  the  Telugus] 
little  was  known  of  the  Oriental  races.  Christian  people  took  it  for  granted 
that  the  older  religions  were  wholly  bad  and  that  their  scriptures  contained 
nothing  but  evil.  There  was  no  sympathetic  approach,  no  feeling  that  per- 
haps God  had  not  left  Himself  unrevealed  to  the  heathen  world.  "It  dis- 
tressed many  thoughtful  men  and  women  in  Christian  lands  at  that  time 
to  think  that  unless  the  heathen  heard  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and  ac- 
cepted it,  they  would  be  eternally  lost.  This  was  my  opinion,  too,  when  I 
went  to  India.  It  formed  my  missionary  motive.  I  looked  upon  the  Hindus 
as  simply  heathen:  I  wanted  to  see  them  converted.  As  the  years  passed  I 
grew  tolerant,  and  often  told  the  caste  people,  if  they  could  not  or  would 
not  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour,  to  serve  their  own  gods  faithfully. 
During  my  visits  to  America  I  sometimes  told  American  audiences  that  the 
Hindus  were  in  some  respects  better  than  they."  {Social  Christianity  in  the 
Orient,  p.  73.) 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

of  men  and  women  I  have  ever  known,  but  also  that  a  large 
portion  of  them  impressed  me  as  liberal-minded,  far-seeing, 
and  surprisingly  wise.  In  the  case  of  very  many  of  them  the 
contact  with  non-Christian  religions  and  with  representatives 
of  other  branches  of  Christianity  —  Protestant  and  Catholic  — 
than  their  own  has  opened  their  eyes  to  new  truths,  and  they 
go  home  on  their  first  furlough  with  broader  views  of  God  and 
man  and  a  more  intelligent  insight  into  the  real  needs  and 
the  highest  ideals  of  the  missionary  enterprise  than  they  took 
out  with  them  in  the  first  enthusiasm  of  their  youthful  devo- 
tion. If  Protestants  of  different  denominations,  yes,  if  Protes- 
tants and  Catholics,  ever  come  to  understand  each  other,  it  is 
on  the  mission  field.  And  this  sympathetic  understanding  of 
the  experienced  missionary  is  beginning  to  extend  itself  very 
noticeably,  so  as  to  take  in  the  finer  aspects  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian religions.  Moreover,  the  endless  variety  of  work  and  re- 
sponsibility that  falls  to  the  lot  of  most  missionaries  in  a  land 
like  India  develops  in  many  of  them,  after  ten  or  twenty 
years'  training,  a  practical  wisdom,  a  soundness  of  judgment, 
and  an  ability  to  understand  and  deal  with  men,  and  to  in- 
fluence and  direct  whole  communities,  rarely  met  with  at 
home. 

We  come  now  to  the  arguments  against  the  missionary  enter- 
prise as  such.  These  arguments  may  be  reduced  to  two  which 
seek  to  prove:  (i)  that  the  conversion  of  India  to  Christianity 
is  impossible,  and  (2)  that  it  is  useless.  The  first  of  these  argu- 
ments has  many  forms  and  much  to  say  for  itself.  We  are  told 
in  the  first  place  —  and  this  is  peculiarly  the  position  of  the 
Theosophical  Society  —  that  Christian  missions  can  never 
succeed  because  Christianity  is  not  native  to  India.  The  most 
that  could  be  hoped  for  would  be  a  change  of  external  forms 
and  the  adoption  of  certain  pious  words  and  phrases;  but  the 
religion  of  a  people  is  too  deep  to  be  touched  by  any  amount 
of  preaching  and  proselyting.  Religion  is  a  matter  of  centu- 
ries, yes,  of  thousands  of  years,  of  tradition;  and  only  a  religion 
that  has  such  a  power  of  past  generations  behind  it  can  really 
get  hold  of  the  heart  of  a  people.  Hence  the  conclusion  is 
reached  that  it  is  far  wiser  to  start  with  the  religion  which  the 
people  already  possess  and  seek,  not  to  convert  them  to  some 
431 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

new  form  of  faith,  but  to  draw  their  attention  to  the  more 
spiritual  and  ethical  side  of  the  faith  which  is  already  theirs. 
This,  of  course,  is  the  work  which  the  Theosophists  are  them- 
selves pursuing  — •  and  with  some  success  —  in  both  India  and 
Ceylon.  Any  other  form  of  religious  teaching  they  regard  as 
artificial  and  as  doomed  to  failure  because  based  on  a  profound 
misunderstanding  of  social  psychology. 

No  one  can  deny  the  psychological  facts  on  which  this 
argument  is  based.  The  religion  native  to  a  land  has  enormous 
advantages  over  every  newcomer,  advantages  of  an  emotional 
and  authoritative  character  so  great  that  one  should  certainly 
think  many  times  before  seeking  to  replace  it  with  a  foreign 
religion,  which  might  be  a  little  but  only  a  little  better.  For 
to  destroy  an  old  religion  is  a  very  difficult  process;  and,  more- 
over, if  one  succeeds  in  so  doing  there  is  the  great  danger  that  in 
destroying  one  religion  he  may  have  undermined  the  founda- 
tions of  religion  as  such,  and  opened  the  way  only  to  a  godless 
and  reckless  skepticism  or  naturalism.  Hence,  if  Christianity 
is  only  a  little  better  than  its  rivals,  the  missionary  enterprise 
is  of  very  doubtful  wisdom.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
those  who  believe  in  missions  believe  that  Christianity  is  very 
much  better  than  its  rivals;  so  much  better  in  fact  that  the 
risk  of  failure  and  the  risk  even  of  ultimate  harm  are  worth 
taking.  This  question  of  the  superiority  of  Christianity  will 
occupy  us  later  on  in  this  chapter.  Here  we  must  consider 
further  the  Theosophist  argument  already  stated. 

And  the  most  noticeable  thing  about  it  is  that  while  the 
psychological  facts  to  which  it  appeals  are  undoubted,  the 
argument  taken  as  it  stands  proves  too  much.  It  aims  to  show 
not  only  that  the  conversion  of  India  would  be  difficult  (a  fact 
which  no  one  knows  better  than  the  missionary),  but  that 
it  is  psychologically  impossible.  This,  as  I  say,  if  it  proves 
anything,  proves  much  more  than  the  Theosophists  would 
wish.  It  proves  that  Christianity  could  not  succeed  among 
the  Romans  and  Greeks,  nor  among  the  Germans  and  Anglo- 
Saxons;  in  short,  that  it  could  succeed  only  among  the  Jews  — 
with  whom,  alone,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  failed.  Similarly  the 
argument  proves  that  Islam  could  not  succeed  among  the 
Turks  and  Persians  nor  in  India,  and  that  Buddhism  could 
432 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

not  succeed  in  China  and  Japan,  nor  in  Burma  and  Ceylon  — 
where  the  Theosophists  are  now  so  busy  defending  it  as  the 
**  native"  religion.  According  to  it  Buddha,  Jesus,  Zarathustra, 
and  all  the  other  "Masters"  of  the  Theosophist  canon  were 
deluded  and  could  not  have  succeeded,  and  we  must  therefore 
all  be  only  animists  still  (or  "Toltecs"?).  No;  conversion  is 
indeed  a  difficult  process,  but  to  regard  it  as  impossible  is  to  de- 
spair of  reason  and  conscience  and  human  nature,  and  to  fall 
back  into  a  lethargy'  of  pessimism  worse  far  than  the  active 
undermining  of  all  religions. 

Nor  if  we  fasten  our  eyes  more  directly  on  India  does  the 
prospect  of  converting  a  large  part  of  its  population  seem  so 
hopeless  as  many  would  have  us  believe.  The  census  figures 
are  somewhat  encouraging.  Yet,  it  must  be  said,  they  are  far 
from  settling  the  question  of  the  practicability  of  converting 
India.  The  total  population  of  India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon 
in  191 1  was  317,653,000,  of  whom  4,287,000  were  Christian. 
This  seems,  indeed,  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket  —  hardly  more 
than  one  per  cent  of  the  total  population.  Yet  the  rate  of 
increase  during  the  decade  1901-11  is  more  encouraging  than 
the  actual  number  of  present  converts.  I  give  the  figures  as 
condensed  from  the  "Statesman's  Year-Book,"  combining 
the  statistics  for  India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon :  ^ 

Increase  of  total  population  during  the  decade  6.7  per  cent 

Increase  of  Hindus  5 
Increase  of  Sikhs                                                              over  10 

Decrease  of  Jainas  6 

Increase  of  Mohammedans  6.7 

Increase  of  Parsees  6 

Increase  of  Buddhists  13 

Increase  of  Animists  2 

Increase  of  Christians  31 

The  rates  of  Christian  increase  during  the  three  decades 
preceding  this  were  respectively  22,  33.9,  and  30  per  cent.  Of 
the  million  added  to  the  Christian  community  between  1901 

*  The  actual  numbers  according  to  the  191 1  census  have  been  in  part 
given  in  previous  chapters.  For  the  sake  of  convenience  in  comparison 
I  repeat  them  here:  Hindus  (in  all  three  countries),  218,526,000;  Sikhs, 
3,014,000;  Jainas,  1,248,000;  Mohammedans,  66,931,000;  Parsees,  100,096; 
Buddhists,  13,195,000;  Animists,  10,295,000;  Jews,  20,080;  others,  37,101. 

433 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

and  191 1,  perhaps  250,000  should  be  regarded  as  natural  in- 
crease; so  we  may  say  that  roughly  750,000  of  the  Christians 
in  India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon  are  due  to  conversion. 

These  figures,  as  I  have  said,  are  encouraging,  yet  hardly 
prophetic:  one  who  should  seek  on  their  basis  to  figure  out 
just  how  long  it  will  take  to  christianize  India  would  show  a 
lamentable  ignorance  of  the  missionary  problem.  For,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  much  the  greater  proportion  of  conversions 
are  made  from  the  low  castes  and  animists;  and  figures  based 
so  largely  on  success  with  this  inferior  part  of  the  population 
give  us  absolutely  no  basis  for  any  sort  of  prediction  as  to  suc- 
cess among  that  great  mass  of  higher  caste  Hindus,  Buddhists, 
and  Mohammedans  who  are  as  yet  almost  untouched  by  Chris- 
tianity so  far  as  census  figures  are  concerned.  Hence  I  fear 
that  the  census  returns  will  hardly  answer  our  question;  and 
though  it  is  natural  and  right  that  the  missionary  should  scan 
them  with  interest,  he  should  not  be  unduly  elated  at  reported 
gains  nor  too  much  cast  down  at  reported  losses.  Let  him  re- 
member the  w^ords  of  Emerson:  "Whenever  an  appeal  to  num- 
bers is  made  religion  is  dead."  We  are  all  apt  to  give  too  much 
weight  to  figures.  The  critic  counts  the  converts  and  counts 
the  cash  and  asks.  Is  it  worth  the  money?  The  unthinking 
missionary  advocate  does  the  same  and  points  out  that  you 
can  save  souls  at  so  much  "^er."  It  is  the  same  point  of  view 
in  both  cases  and  equally  absurd  whichever  way  applied.  The 
"convert"  who  goes  down  as  such  in  the  statistics  is  not  neces- 
sarily saved  in  any  sense  of  the  word  that  is  really  important. 
We  have  enough  "Christians"  and  "church  members"  at 
home  to  enable  us  to  value  statistics  of  this  sort  for  about  as 
much  as  they  are  worth.  Jesus  had  something  to  say  on  this 
subject:  "Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me  Lord,  Lord,  but 
he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father,  he  is  it  that  loveth  me." 
But  this  criticism  works  both  ways.  While  there  are  doubtless 
many  converts  on  the  books  who  are  quite  lacking  in  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  the  influence  of  the  missionary  is  not  to  be  limited 
to  the  "converts"  of  the  statistics.  For  the  spirit  of  Christ 
radiates  from  every  Christian  home  and  school  and  hospital, 
and  bears  a  blessing  to  all  who  come  within  its  reach.  And 
there  are  innumerable  Hindus,  Moslems,  and  other  "heathen" 

434 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN    INDIA 

who,  though  still  loyal  to  their  old  religions,  are  not  far  from 
the  Kingdom  of  God. 

These  things  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  our  interpretation 
of  what  is,  perhaps,  the  most  striking  fact  in  the  missionary- 
statistics  —  the  fact,  namely,  that  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  Christian  converts  are  from  the  tribes  of  the  jungle  and  the 
dregs  of  Indian  society.  Hindus  of  high  caste,  Moslems,  Bud- 
dhists, and  members  of  other  highly  developed  religions  are, 
indeed,  occasionally  converted,  but  such  a  conversion  is  a  rare 
occurrence.  This  is  a  significant  fact,  and  its  implications  should 
be  considered.  The  explanation  of  it  is  not  simple  and  must 
be  sought  in  a  variety  of  causes.  For  one  thing,  Christianity 
has  usually  made  its  first  appeal  to  the  lowly  and  uneducated. 
It  was  so  in  the  Roman  Empire  and  we  should  expect  it  to  be 
so  in  India.  The  high-caste  Hindu  is  both  more  fettered  by 
the  bonds  of  tradition  and  more  attracted  by  the  subtleties 
of  his  own  religion  and  philosophy  than  is  the  sweeper  or  the 
Bihl.  Of  considerable  significance  in  this  connection  is  also  the 
method  by  which  many  of  these  "conversions"  from  the  lower 
classes  are  made.  I  refer  to  what  is  known  as  "mass  conver- 
sion" as  practiced  by  the  Methodists.  The  missionary  goes 
into  the  jungle  and  induces  the  inhabitants  of  an  entire  village 
to  be  baptized  together  and  to  call  themselves  Christians.  Or 
he  does  the  same  with  some  low  caste  in  the  city.  They  yield 
to  his  persuasions  from  purely  social  and  economic  considera- 
tions. For,  gentle  reader,  if  you  were  a  "  chamar  "or  a  "Dom," 
you,  too,  would  ask  no  theological  questions,  but  would  be 
glad  to  join  any  religious  body  which  would  make  you  re- 
spected and  get  you  a  job.  Having  baptized  his  newly  made 
converts,  the  missionary  proceeds  to  teach  and  if  possible  to 
convert  them.  The  method,  on  first  hearing,  of  course,  sounds 
absurd :  and  the  Church  of  England  missionaries  are  violently 
opposed  to  it.  Yet  the  Methodist  missionaries  who  have  tried 
it  are  enthusiastic  in  its  praise.  And  this,  I  hasten  to  say,  not 
out  of  zeal  to  swell  the  numbers  in  their  reports  (at  least  not 
chiefly  so),  but  because  they  insist  that  it  has  certain  very 
great  practical  advantages.  For  one  thing,  all  social  perse- 
cution of  individuals  by  their  fellows  is  thus  avoided.  And 
what  is  more  important,  the  missionary  gains  at  once  a  position 

435 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

of  authority  which  he  utilizes  in  bringing  about  genuine  con- 
versions, and  also  in  restraining  the  members  of  his  flock  from 
all  sorts  of  immoral  practices.  They  may  not  understand  his 
theology,  but  they  look  up  to  him  as  a  father,  and  obey  him. 
He  may  now  order  them  out  of  a  saloon  and  they  will  at  once 
go,  or  he  may  if  necessary  even  beat  them  for  past  transgres- 
sions and  they  submit  —  and  profit  thereby.  Thus,  through 
having  baptized  them  into  a  purely  nominal  Christianity,  he 
wins  an  influence  over  them  which  makes  their  ultimate  con- 
version to  a  real  Christianity  very  much  more  probable  than 
it  would  otherwise  have  been.  And  even  aside  from  his  influ- 
ence over  his  immediate  "converts,"  the  missionary  is  enabled 
to  get  control  over  the  "converts' "  children,  and  to  see  that 
the  second  generation  get  a  Christian  education  and  are  brought 
up  in  some  sort  of  knowledge  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

I  should  add,  however,  that  not  all  "mass  conversions"  are 
of  the  type  I  have  described.  The  census  commissioner  says, 
"Most  missions  are  very  careful  to  baptize  no  one  until  he  has 
given  satisfactory  proof  of  his  being  a  Christian  at  heart."  The 
method  of  baptizing  first  and  converting  afterward  was  quite 
new  at  the  time  of  the  191 1  census,  and  there  are  many  mis- 
sionaries to-day,  who  practice  "mass  conversion,"  but  look 
askance  at  this  extreme  form  of  it.^ 

But  whatever  we  think  of  this  method,  we  must  bear  it  in 
mind  in  interpreting  mission  figures.  It  is  estimated  that  if  all 
the  missionary  bodies  would  follow  the  same  plan,  over  fifty 
million  of  the  lowest  classes  in  India  could  be  baptized  in  a 
very  short  time  —  and  so  go  down  in  the  reports  as  "con- 
verted to  Christianity." 

Of  course  these  "mass"  methods  cannot  be  practiced  with 
the  higher  classes  of  society.  Moreover,  conversion  from 
their  ranks  —  at  least  in  the  case  of  the  Hindus  —  is  made 
particularly  difficult  because  of  the  severe  social  persecution 
to  which  the  individual  convert  is  usually  subjected.  The  mis- 

1  Mr.  Patton,  of  the  A.B.C.F.M.,  tells  me  that  a  certain  Congregational- 
ist  missionary  in  South  India  has  so  many  applications  for  baptism,  and 
is  so  determined  not  to  baptize  more  than  he  can  care  for  spiritually,  that 
he  has  set  a  limit  to  the  number  of  converts  to  be  received  each  year  — 
namely,  one  thousand.  Hence  he  has  started  a  waiting-list.  Fancy  a  wait- 
ing-list for  church  membership! 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

sionaries  always  point  out  this  fact  in  explaining  their  lack  of 
success  among  the  higher  castes,  and  it  undoubtedly  has  some 
weight.  There  are  other  causes  at  work,  however,  among  in- 
telligent Indians  which  give  more  food  for  thought.  One  of 
these  is  the  example  of  European  "Christians"  in  India  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.  For  the  educated  Indian  keeps  his 
eyes  open  to  what  is  going  on  in  the  world,  and  when  he  notes 
how  slight  is  the  influence  which  Christianity  has  upon  many 
"Christian"  men  and  women  and  upon  most  "Christian" 
nations,  he  is  led  to  question  seriously  the  advantage  which 
would  come  to  India  from  a  change  of  creed.  "If  we  are  to 
j  udge  a  religion  by  what  it  set  itself  to  but  has  failed  to  achieve, ' ' 
writes  the  editor  of  the  "Indian  Social  Reformer,"  "we  are 
afraid  none  will  come  out  worse  than  Christianity."^  The  re- 
spondents to  Mr.  Kenneth  Saunders's  Questionnaire  concern- 
ing religious  conditions  in  Ceylon  were  almost  unanimous  in  the 
opinion  that  the  greatest  hindrance  to  the  spread  of  Christian- 
ity among  the  Buddhists  was  "the  inconsistent  lives  of  Chris- 
tians themselves."-  The  attitude  of  many  of  the  European  resi- 
dents of  India  toward  the  "natives"  is  certainly  hardly  such 
as  to  induce  great  respect  for  their  religion;  and  the  "black 
man"  forms  his  own  opinion  on  the  basis  of  the  things  that 
he  sees  —  for  example  (and  this  I  quote  from  an  Indian),  "the 
cases  of  assault  committed  upon  defenseless  Indians  by 
Anglo-Indians  whose  Saviour  enjoined  them  to  offer  the  left 
cheek  to  those  who  smote  them  on  the  right."  The  following 
sentences  may  also  be  of  service  in  aiding  us  Christians  to  see 
ourselves  as  others  see  us:  "  In  the  field  of  politics  Christianity 
has  admittedly  no  place.  The  white  man  is  very  loath  to  be 
relieved  of  his  burden,  and  the  very  natural  and  laudable  at- 
tempt of  the  yellow  nations  to  preserve  themselves  from  ex- 
tinction is  openly  and  shamelessly  denounced  as  the  Yellow 
Peril,  which  to  non-Christians  appears  very  much  like  blaming 
a  man  for  defending  his  iron  safe  from  aggressors  who  want  to 
break  it  open.  Self-interest  is  the  only  principle  which  gov- 
erns the  politics  of  the  world,  and  Christianity  has  no  part  or 
lot  in  it."   "The  noble,  self-sacrificing  heroism,  the  devotion  to 

1  Indian  Social  Reformer  for  August  I,  1915. 
'  Buddhist  Ideals,  Appendix,  p.  161. 

437 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

duty,  the  culture,  the  chivalry,  the  humanity  which  the  Jap- 
anese, without  any  active  belief  in  a  paradise  after  death,  have 
exhibited,  form  a  noble  contrast  to  the  savagery  and  bestiality 
of  the  allied  armies  in  Peking  not  very  long  ago,  and  this  vivid 
object-lesson,  by  showing  how  little  Christianity  has  in  reality 
influenced  the  lives  of  the  Western  nations,  has  further  under- 
mined the  faith  of  the  'pagan'  world  in  all  that  Christianity 
lays  claim  to."  ^  Our  utter  disregard  of  Christian  principles  in 
our  international  relations  has  always  struck  the  intelligent 
Oriental  as  very  significant;  and  we  can  very  well  imagine  the 
effect  that  the  present  senseless  war  must  have  upon  the  whole 
East,  and  how  it  must  inevitably  influence  the  reputation  of 
our  religion  in  non-Christian  lands.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  a  Japanese  who  had  lived  in  the  West  wrote  a  significant 
letter  to  the  New  York  "Nation,"  from  which  I  quote  here  two 
or  three  sentences:  "We  Orientals  must  insist  in  future  not  to 
believe  whatever  high  philosophy  on  love  or  peace  or  human- 
ity the  Western  scholars  and  theologians  might  write.  We 
Japanese  are  glad  at  least  to  have  a  country  in  a  far-away 
East,  not  in  the  West.  I  have  been  losing  for  some  long  while 
my  own  respect  toward  the  West  and  her  own  civilization."  ^ 
"The  war  has  come  in  the  nick  of  time,"  says  an  anonymous 
writer  in  the  "Asiatic  Review,"  "to  clear  the  minds  of  those 
Orientals  who  have  been  ill  satisfied  with  their  own  cul- 
ture and  traditions.  The  vaunted  civilization  of  the  West  is 
stripped  bare,  and  the  diseases  of  her  body  politic  —  the  can- 
cer which  is  eating  at  her  vitals  —  are  made  manifest.  Let 
us  ask  —  What  is  the  cause  of  this  war?  The  answer  is  brief: 
it  is  the  will  to  possess,  the  aggressive  spirit  which  has  the 
West  by  the  throat.  .  .  .  Mutual  suspicion,  jealousy,  and  hatred 
pervade  the  atmosphere.  Militarism  and  the  menace  of  diplo- 
macy increase.  .  .  .  The  mind  of  man  in  the  West  is  set  on 
outward  ends  and  material  aims.  The  inward  vision  and  the 
spiritual  impulse  are  lost.  In  spite  of  all  Christian  professions 
the  tale  of  actual  practice  is  the  tragedy  of  selfish  interest  and 
lust  for  gold,  aptly  described  as  the  yellow  peril." ' 

1  J.  C.  Banerji,  op.  cit. 

*  Yom  Noguchi,  in  the  Nation  for  October  8,  1914. 

»  A  View  from  India  on  the  War,  by  S.  R.  Asiatic  Review  for  May,  1915. 

438 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

Even  more  to  the  point  is  a  letter  from  an  Indian  Christian 
in  the  London  "Challenge,"  quoted  by  a  recent  writer  in  the 
"Atlantic  Monthly  " :  "The  difficulty  of  finance,  in  his  opinion, 
*  is  a  very  small  problem  compared  with  the  enormous  burden 
of  proof  that,  in  the  eyes  of  the  enlightened  spiritual  Hindus, 
this  war  will  throw  upon  European  missionaries  who  come  to 
us  hereafter  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Love.'  "  And  after  de- 
scribing a  service  in  St.  Paul's,  the  keynote  of  which  was  given 
by  the  war-spirit,  he  concludes  thus:  "As  I  walked  home  that 
night,  amid  the  glaring  lights  and  the  many  khaki  uniforms, 
threading  my  way  through  that  great  throng  that  seemed 
continually  to  pour  out  of  the  cathedral,  my  thoughts  went 
back  for  a  moment  across  the  seas,  to  my  village  home  in  In- 
dia, far  from  the  military'  camps  and  the  legislative  council,  — 
pagan,  heathen,  animistic,  call  it  what  you  will,  —  but  where 
they  love  their  neighbors,  and,  if  they  hate,  they  hate  with  a 
bad  conscience;  and  I  felt  that  there,  at  least,  in  the  wide  world 
to-day,  Christ  could  still  walk  as  He  walked  in  Galilee."  ^ 

This  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  missionary's  success  might 
be  elaborated  in  great  detail:  but  I  shall  leave  the  reader  (or 
the  missionary)  to  do  that  for  himself,  and  shall  go  on,  instead, 
to  point  out  two  further  obstacles  to  the  conversion  of  the 
intelligent  Indian  which  the  missionary  is  not  likely  to  men- 
tion. The  first  of  these  concerns  the  question  of  "church  or- 
ganization." Too  many  missionaries  and  missionary  boards 
in  the  past  have  identified  Christianity  with  their  own  partic- 
ular t>^pe  of  denominational  church  government,  and  have  had 
much  too  contemptuous  a  feeling  for  the  forms  of  religious  life 
native  to  the  Indian  village  community.  The  result  has  been, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  divide  Indian  Christianity  into  a  confus- 
ing multitude  of  sects,^  and  on  the  other,  to  stamp  Christian- 
ity in  the  Indian  mind  as  essentially  a  foreign  religion,  and 
thus  to  arouse  the  hostility  of  many  of  the  best  leaders  of 
Indian  thought,  who  are  bent  on  rousing  in  India  a  spirit  of 
nationality. 

^  Quoted  by  Herbert  W.  Horwill,  in  "The  Cost  to  Humanity,"  Atlantic 
Monthly,  for  March,  1915  (p.  425). 

*  Cf.  the  black  man  in  South  India,  who  (according  to  Dr.  Crothers)  de- 
scribed himself  as  a  "Scotch  Presbyterian." 

439 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

But  a  still  greater  obstacle  to  missionary  success  is  the  un- 
discriminating  way  in  which  Christianity  is  only  too  often 
presented  by  the  missionaries  themselves.  A  Buddhist  in  Man- 
dalay,  with  whom  I  had  several  talks,  told  me  that  he  had 
been  educated  in  a  mission  school  and  that  he  saw  many  fine 
things  in  Christianity,  but  that,  on  the  whole,  he  considered  it 
an  immoral  religion.  On  questioning  him  I  discovered  that  his 
opinion  was  based  on  various  Old  Testament  stories  which  he 
had  been  taught  as  a  part  of  Christianity  and  which  represent 
Jehovah  as  conversing  and  acting  in  anything  but  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  Certain  Christian  dogmas  act  in  the  same  way  upon 
the  "  unregenerate "  mind  as  do  the  Old  Testament  stories 
just  referred  to.  Mr.  Saunders  tells  us,  in  analyzing  the  results 
of  his  Ceylonese  Questionnaire:  "Most  of  our  correspondents 
agree  that  the  idea  of  Atonement  is  alien  to  the  Buddhist 
consciousness.  .  .  .  The  substitutionary  theory  which  is 
widely  preached  does  not  appeal  to  the  Buddhist  mind.  It 
conflicts  with  their  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things."  Examples, 
however,  are  cited  from  missionary  discourses,  in  which  it  is 
attempted  to  make  the  dogma  of  substitution  more  palatable 
to  the  heathen:  examples  which  are  said  to  appeal  to  the  Bud- 
dhist sense  of  justice,  but  which,  in  all  frankness,  seem  better 
adapted  to  appeal  to  the  Buddhist  sense  of  the  absurd.  A 
young  Hindu  friend  of  mine,  who  is  almost  ready  to  be  a  fol- 
lower of  Jesus,  was  astonished  when  I  told  him  that  he  was 
nearly  a  Christian.  "For,"  he  said,  "I  was  always  told  in  the 
mission  school  that  I  could  n't  possibly  be  any  sort  of  a  Chris- 
tian unless  I  first  believed  in  the  Trinity."  Considering  how 
little  we  hear  of  that  famous  doctrine  from  the  pulpits  at  home, 
it  is  rather  surprising  to  find  so  much  made  of  it  in  missionary 
attempts  to  convert  the  "heathen."  Some  missionaries  seem 
to  feel  it  necessary  to  put  forward  this  most  difficult  of  Chris- 
tian dogmas  as  the  first  lesson  in  Christian  teaching;  and  the 
result  is  about  what  one  might  expect.  For  the  Moslems  in 
particular,  of  course,  no  greater  obstacle  to  Christian  conver- 
sion could  be  devised :  yet  it  appears  to  be  the  missionaries  to 
the  Moslems  who  make  the  most  of  this  doctrine  in  their 
preaching.  My  Mohammedan  acquaintances  in  Benares 
showed  by  their  conversation  that  they  had  come  to  regard  the 
440 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

Trinity  as  the  distinctive  feature  of  Christianity;  and  in- 
sisted that  the  Church  of  England  missionaries  made  it  the 
center  of  their  propaganda.  Probably  this  was  an  exaggera- 
tion. And  yet  one  may  read  in  the  official  "Year-Book  of 
Missions  in  India"  that  one  of  the  chief  problems  confronting 
the  missionary  to  the  Moslems  is  "the  impartation  of  a  true 
concept  of  God  as  Triune  instead  of  an  absolute  Unit  which 
excludes  the  Trinity." 

But  the  obstacles  which  a  certain  type  of  Christian  theol- 
ogy puts  in  the  way  of  the  spread  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
not  due  primarily  to  the  missionary,  but  to  us  Christians  at 
home  who  allow  our  living  religion  to  be  identified  with  a  col- 
lection of  half-dead  dogmas.  The  result  of  this  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  low  opinion  that  many  an  educated  Indian  has  of  our 
theology.  "To  the  philosophic  Hindu,"  as  one  of  them  writes, 
"Christianity  is  a  superstition."  As  illustrations  of  the  way 
in  which  we  are  allowing  our  religion  to  be  pictured  by  many 
of  the  Indians,  I  set  down  here  extracts  from  two  Indian  arti- 
cles on  the  subject  of  Christianity.  The  first  is  from  the  little 
monograph  already  cited,  entitled  "  Is  not  Christianity  a  False 
and  Fabulous  Religion?"  The  author  of  it  has  found  in  the 
Old  Testament  —  and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  that  the 
Old  Testament  is  infallibly  inspired  —  great  stores  of  ammuni- 
tion for  his  attack.  "The  Bible,"  he  says,  "presents  certain 
ideas  of  God  and  man.  Are  they  true?  Christendom  says  — 
Yes,  and  demands  that  the  race  must  receive  them  as  true  or 
be  outcasts  from  divine  favor,  ...  In  ist  Samuel,  15th  chap- 
ter, is  an  account  of  the  final  extermination  of  Amalek,  and 
the  accomplishment  of  the  long-nurtured  revenge.  Saul  is  sent 
by  Samuel  to  do  the  deed  and  the  commission  is  in  these  words : 
'Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  I  remember  that  which  Amalek 
did  to  Israel,  how  he  laid  wait  for  him  in  the  way,  when 
he  came  up  out  from  Eg>'pt.  Now,  go  and  smite  Amalek, 
and  utterly  destroy  all  that  they  have,  and  spare  them  not; 
but  slay  both  man  and  woman,  infant  and  suckling,  ox  and 
sheep,  camel  and  ass.'  Can  it  be  believed  that  the  God  of 
Justice  ever  commanded  a  tribe  of  men  to  be  exterminated 
because  their  ancestors,  centuries  before,  did  wrong?  Can  it 
be  believed  that  the  Father  of  men  ever  thus  commanded  his 
441 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

children  to  cherish  the  spirit  of  deadly  hatred  toward  the 
fellow-beings  from  age  to  age  and  then,  after  ages  had  passed, 
instigated  them  to  satiate  their  cherished  revenge  in  the  blood 
of  infants  and  sucklings  because  they  were  the  posterity  of 
those  who  had  wronged  them?  Yes.  This  is  all  devoutly  be- 
lieved as  truth  by  Christendom." 

As  the  reader  may  imagine,  the  writer  of  this  pamphlet  does 
not  stop  with  Amalek,  but  brings  up  many  another  instance 
from  the  Old  Testament  in  which  the  God  of  Israel  shows  but 
small  measure  of  what  we  like  to  call  the  "Christian  spirit." 
Nor  has  he  altogether  neglected  some  of  the  Christian  dogmas 
which,  though  we  are  perhaps  half  ashamed  of  them,  still  re- 
main in  our  official  creeds.  He  writes:  "They  say  that  the  first 
parents  or  so-called  Adam  and  Eve,  made  a  sin  in  consequence 
of  which  mankind  undergoes  sufferings.  ...  If  that  God  of 
the  Bible  be  so  unjust  as  to  punish  one  individual  for  another's 
crime,  then  we  do  not  hesitate  to  call  him  tyrant.  It  is  the  be- 
lief of  all  Christians  that  he  who  does  not  believe  in  Christ 
will  have  to  suffer  eternal  punishment.  What  a  vulgar  belief 
this  is!  Is  not  that  God  cruel  and  tyrant  who  sends  man  into 
the  house  of  eternal  fire  like  the  hell  of  the  Christians  simply 
because  he  does  not  believe  in  the  so-called  Christ,  though  he 
may  be  good  and  righteous?" 

The  above,  as  I  think  I  have  said,  is  from  the  pen  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Arya  Samaj.  A  Buddhist  writer,  contributing  to 
the  "Buddhist  Review,"  says:  "The  Christian  faith  does  not 
correspond  with  the  truths  of  science.  Christianity  is  static; 
science,  on  the  other  hand,  is  dynamic,  based  as  it  is  on  the 
ever-expanding  sum  of  human  knowledge,  and  therefore  must 
eventually  push  aside  any  teaching  which  rests  merely  upon 
the  shifting  basis  of  faith.  Two  thousand  years  is  a  long  time, 
and  mankind  has  grown  up;  it  no  longer  blindly  accepts  what 
it  is  told,  and  we  find  that  there  is  an  ever-increasing  num- 
ber of  those  who  regard  it  as  highly  improbable  that  some 
almighty  ruler  of  the  cosmos  should  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
'send  his  son  —  part  of  his  godhead —  to  this  infinitesimal  por- 
tion of  the  universe,  in  order  to  redeem  mankind  from  the  sin 
of  having  eaten  a  certain  fruit  hundreds  of  generations  before.' 
That  is  frankly  the  essence  of  the  Christian  faith.  Certainly 
443 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

a  poetic  idea,  but  savoring  of  the  myths  born  in  the  infancy 
of  the  human  intellect,  just  as  does  the  parent  of  Christianity, 
the  religion  of  the  Pentateuch."  ^ 

"Wretched  caricatures  of  Christian  teaching,"  you  will  say; 
"utter  misrepresentations  of  the  true  nature  of  our  religion." 
And  undoubtedly  they  are.  But  how  are  such  misrepresenta- 
tions possible  at  all?  If  you  have  read  our  official  creeds  and 
our  dogmatic  theologies,  you  know  how  they  are  possible,  and 
you  know  that  the  Buddhist  and  the  Hindu  have  hardly  done 
more  than  take  our  "orthodox"  theologians  at  their  word. 
If  we  allow  Christianity  to  be  identified  in  the  minds  of  the 
non-Christian  world  with  a  mass  of  scholastic  subtleties  and 
mediaeval  dogmas,  we  shall  have  nothing  to  blame  for  it  but 
our  own  cowardice. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  we  can  to  some  extent  understand 
why  the  great  majority  of  Christian  "converts"  are  from  the 
lower  and  less  intelligent  classes.  And  this  brings  us  to  one  of 
the  most  important  of  all  the  questions  involved  in  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise,  namely,  the  character  and  quality  of  the 
converts.  On  this  there  is  a  bewildering  variety  of  opinion.  In 
the  first  place,  one  must  note,  and  with  some  discouragement, 
how  many  of  the  Christian  European  residents  in  India  agree 
with  the  non-Christian  opponents  of  missions  in  regarding  a 
large  proportion  of  the  converts  as  very  poor  material,  indeed. 
0\"er  and  over  you  hear  the  advice  from  Anglo-Indians :  "  Don't 
get  a  Christian  ser\^ant:  they  are  the  worst  thieves  in  the  land. 
Get  a  Moslem  —  they  are  honest." 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  dishonesty'  of  Chris- 
tian servants  —  like  the  dishonesty  of  Sunday-School  super- 
intendents—  has  been  greatly  exaggerated.  That  many  of 
them  are  dishonest,  however,  is  undeniable.  And  there  are 
reasons  enough  why  this  should  be  expected.  In  the  first  place, 
as  we  have  seen,  they  commonly  come  from  the  lowest  classes, 
among  whom  dishonesty  is  not  regarded  as  evil,  and  often 
they  are  "converted"  in  name  only.  Some  of  these  self-styled 
"Christians,"  in  fact,  have  never  been  accepted  as  such  by 
any  missionary-,  but  call  themselves  Christians  in  the  hope  of 
securing  a  position  thereby. 

^  Buddhist  Review  for  January,  19 12  (p.  38). 
443 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

There  are  certain  more  discouraging  considerations,  how- 
ever. One  hears  not  infrequently  of  genuine  Christian  con- 
verts from  the  lower  castes  mixing  up  with  their  Christianity- 
all  sorts  of  ancient  superstitions  and  animistic  rites  which  the 
missionary  who  converted  them  had  supposed  entirely  a  thing 
of  the  past.  Dr.  Clough,  after  laboring  in  India  for  forty-five 
years,  learned  to  his  great  surprise  and  disappointment  that 
some  of  his  native  Christians  were  not  only  recurring  to  their 
various  ancient  rites  and  ceremonies,  but  were  making  use  of 
his  name  in  these  incantations  as  the  deity  to  be  invoked; 
while  a  little  way  to  the  south,  in  another  mission  field,  the 
grave  of  a  missionary  who  had  recently  died  was  being  covered, 
by  the  native  Christians,  with  marks  of  worship  and  signs  that 
prayers  for  help  had  been  offered.  To  prevent  this  the  other 
missionaries  built  a  high  wall  around  the  grave ;  and  then  the 
worship  was  conducted  outside  the  wall.^  And  not  only  do 
the  converts  occasionally  lapse  back  into  superstitions;  some 
of  them,  if  we  may  believe  the  European  residents  of  India, 
lose  rather  than  gain  in  morality  by  the  change  of  religion. 
An  Englishman  whom  I  questioned  said  that  many  of  those 
who  really  have  been  admitted  into  the  Church  have  thereby 
been  driven  out  from  their  own  castes,  and  so  are  set  adrift 
from  the  old  customs  and  social  restraints,  which  at  least  were 
real,  and  have  failed  as  yet  to  get  much  in  their  place.  If  this 
be  really  the  case,  it  is  an  argument,  so  far  as  it  goes,  against 
missions.  But  the  Englishman  admitted  that  a  slow  improve- 
ment among  Christian  converts  is  noticeable:  and  he  added, 
"Of  course,  it  has  taken  about  two  thousand  years  to  make 
us  Europeans  even  as  good  Christians  as  we  are;  and  you 
know  jolly  well  you  can't  make  over  the  native  in  a  day." 

If  we  could  "make  over  the  native"  in  half  a  dozen  genera- 
tions, —  make  him  over  into  a  thorough  Christian  —  it  would 
be  worth  the  effort.  Can  it  be  done?  I  asked  three  missionaries 
how  in  their  opinions  the  second  generation  of  converts  com- 
pared with  the  first.  One  of  them  said  that  the  second  genera- 
tion was  much  better  than  the  first;  the  two  others  said  that 
in  the  case  of  the  better  class  of  Indians,  Christians  of  the  sec- 
ond generation  were  decidedly  inferior  spiritually  and  morally 
^  Social  Christianity  in  the  Orient,  pp.  394-95. 

444 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

to  their  parents.  This  (in  the  opinion  of  the  missionaries)  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  these  children  of  Indian  Christians  have 
no  strong  convictions  of  their  own,  have  never  been  called  upon 
to  go  through  persecutions  for  their  faith,  and  hence  take  it  as 
a  matter  of  course  and  as  a  rather  external  thing.*  A  fourth 
missionary  to  whom  I  put  the  same  question  was  more  hopeful. 
The  second  and  third  generations,  he  admitted,  were  religiously 
and  spiritually  inferior  to  the  first.  They  lack  certain  elements 
of  value  which  come  from  suflfering  for  the  faith.  But  morally, 
he  insisted,  they  exhibit  a  real  and  undeniable  advance  upon 
their  parents  and  grandparents.  Especially  is  this  noticeable 
in  such  matters  as  telling  the  truth,  keeping  promises,  and 
general  reliability.  When  they  lie  they  do  it  less  artistically. 
And  among  all  the  missionaries  with  whom  I  have  talked  there 
is  unanimity  of  opinion  that  in  the  lowest  classes  the  second 
generation  is  decidedly  more  moral  and  more  Christian  than 
the  first.  The  Provincial  Superintendent  of  the  191 1  census  for 
the  United  Provinces  says  that  education  is  making  each  gene- 
ration of  native  Christians  better  than  the  one  which  preceded 
it,  and  he  adds :  "The  Hindu  fellows  of  these  converts  have  now 
to  acknowledge  not  only  that  they  are  in  many  material  ways 
better  off  than  themselves,  but  that  they  are  also  better 
men."  And  the  Census  Superintendent  in  Mysore  —  himself  a 
Hindu  —  writes:  "The  enlightening  influence  of  Christianity  is 
patent  in  the  higher  standard  of  comfort  of  the  converts  and 
in  their  sober,  disciplined,  and  busy  lives."  ^ 

In  spite  of  these  comforting  words,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  facts  which  I  have  been  discussing  do  not  make  as  en- 
couraging reading  as  most  missionary  reports.  It  is  evident 
that  many  of  the  "converts"  fail  to  become  good  Christians. 
Yet  this  fact  is  hardly  conclusive  as  a  proof  of  the  failure  of 
missions.  When  the  criticism  is  made  that  the  converts  of  the 
missionary  do  not  make  good  Christians,  the  question  is  very 
pertinent.  Did  they  make  good  Hindus,  good  Buddhists,  good 
Moslems?    How  much  of  the  spiritual  meaning  of  their  old 

1  It  is  perhaps  significant  that  the  first  of  these  three  missionaries  (the 
one  who  regarded  the  second  generation  as  an  improvement  on  the  first) 
was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  two  others  were  Evangelical  Protestants. 

2  Quoted  by  Sir  Andrew  Fraser,  "The  Progress  of  Christianity  in  India," 
Nineteenth  Century  and  After,  for  August,  1914  (pp.  468-77). 

445 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

religions  have  they  and  their  fellows  ever  got  hold  of?  How 
far  have  they  followed  its  higher  precepts?  If  their  Christian- 
ity is  partly  a  form,  what  was  their  Hinduism  and  Buddhism? 
How  much  of  it  was  a  matter  of  external  observance,  of  making 
sounds  without  meaning?  How  much  has  ever  been  done  by 
the  leaders  of  their  old  religions  to  train  them  in  paths  of  moral- 
ity and  point  them  to  the  highest  ideals?  Or,  if  they  came  from 
the  outcastes  of  Indian  society,  how  much  better  off  were  they 
when  performing  their  magic  rites  in  the  jungle  or  giving 
themselves  up  to  vice  and  violence  in  the  city  streets?  The 
fallacy  of  the  opponents  of  missions  lies  largely  in  the  supposi- 
tion that  so  long  as  the  Indian  is  not  interfered  with  he  makes 
a  perfectly  good  and  ideal  Hindu  or  Moslem,  or  at  least  a 
harmless  and  happy  animist,  and  gets  the  best  out  of  his  old 
faith.  The  whole  of  this  book  should  show  how  false  this  sup- 
position is. 

And  if  we  turn  for  our  information  to  the  missionaries  them- 
selves, who  certainly  are  in  a  position  to  know  the  nature  of 
the  converts  and  who  would  naturally  be  the  first  to  feel  dis- 
couragement if  there  were  reason  for  it,  we  find  them  all  opti- 
mists. They  will  tell  you  of  many  cases  of  the  most  genuine 
Christian  patience  and  courage  in  severe  persecution  on  the 
part  of  Indian  converts.  They  will  show  you  how  they  are 
building  not  for  to-day  but  for  the  future  —  for  ten  or  twenty 
generations  hence.  And  some  of  them  will  point  out  to  you 
the  fact  already  mentioned  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  has  per- 
meated many  a  locality  in  India  where  the  Christian  creed  is 
unknown.  Nor  need  you  go  to  the  missionary  to  hear  this. 
Listen,  for  instance,  to  these  words  from  a  stout  defender  of 
Hinduism:  — 

"Though  the  Indian  people  will  never  be  Christians,  they 
have  nevertheless  not  rejected  Christ.  He  is  already  enshrined 
in  the  hearts  of  the  educated  Indians,  as  the  great  example  of 
practical  morality.  Indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  by 
rejecting  Christianity,  with  all  its  creeds,  theories,  dogmas,  and 
ritual,  they  have  caught  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  a  more  real 
sense  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  .  .  .  And  though 
Christianity  has  not  gained  a  solid  footing  in  India  it  must  be 
admitted  that  judged  by  a  higher  standard  it  has  not  been  a 
446 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS    IN   INDIA 

failure.  It  has  given  us  Christ  and  taught  us  noble  moral  and 
spiritual  lessons  which  we  have  discovered  anew  in  our  own 
scriptures.  ...  It  has  awakened  a  new  spirit  of  inquiry  in  the 
drooping  Hindu  mind.  It  has  made  Hinduism  conscious  of  its 
greatness.  It  has  held  up  to  view  the  baneful  effects  of  certain 
soul-degrading  customs  which  used  to  prevail,  and  prevail 
still,  in  Hindu  society.  In  short,  it  has  quickened  it  with  new 
life,  the  full  fruition  of  which  is  not  yet.  Let  not  the  mission- 
aries, therefore,  retire  from  the  service  of  humanity  which 
they  have  undertaken  in  India,  and  which  is  after  all  the  true 
service  of  God.  Let  them  finish  the  consecrated  task  which 
they  were  the  first  to  set  hands  on,  and  work  the  more  zeal- 
ously because  there  are  many  laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord  now  —  '  not  fanatically  nor  yet  pharisaically,  as  if  they 
themselves  had  nothing  to  learn,'  but  with  energy  and  dis- 
crimination; and  the  high  glory  of  having  restored  India  to 
the  proud  position  she  once  occupied  in  the  scale  of  nations 
will  be  theirs."  ^ 

>  Jnan  Chandra  Banerji,  op.  cit.,  pp.  9  and  16.  I  cannot  refrain  from 
quoting  also  from  an  editorial  in  the  Prabuddha  Bharara  for  December, 
19 14.  The  writer  has  been  pointing  out  that  the  spirit  of  political  nation- 
alism has  quite  driven  Christ  out  of  Europe,  and  he  proceeds  thus:  "But  if 
Christ-force  finds  itself  played  out  in  Europe,  is  there  no  place  on  earth  to 
form  the  scene  of  its  future  workings?  Yes,  there  is,  for,  as  one  Indian 
preacher  once  declared  to  the  world,  Jesus  Christ  has  come  to  India.  .  .  . 
So  India  has  need  of  Christ  to-day.  He  has  to  bear  witness  through  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  life  of  his  disciples  in  India  that  Religion  is  one,  that  all 
the  religious  Revelations  of  the  world  proceed  from  One  Source,  and  that 
the  same  Word  becomes  flesh  in  different  ages  and  climes  to  effect  the  atone- 
ment of  man  with  God.  .  .  .  Let  Religion  rise  in  India  in  the  full  strength 
and  glory  of  its  unity  and  universality,  and  then  flood  the  world  again  with 
the  saving  waters  of  a  renewed  faith  in  its  realities  and  harmonies.  This  is 
the  mission  which  India  has  to  fulfill  through  her  collective  life,  and  unlike 
Europe,  therefore,  she  represents  a  nation  that  affords  to  every  saint  and 
prophet  the  fullest  scope  for  their  authority  and  inspiration.  And  over  and 
above  this,  she  stands  pledged  to  restore  to  every  prophet  and  saint  their 
ministry'  over  the  people  of  their  choice,  for  all  creeds  will  find  in  the  unity 
of  religion  that  India  preaches  to  mankind  a  new  inspiration  and  justifica- 
tion for  their  existence  and  the  strongest  incentive  to  progress  on  their  re- 
spective lines.  ...  So  Europe  will  re-accept  Christ  one  day:  the  rebel  child 
will  return  to  her  paternal  home  once  more.  How  this  transformation 
would  precisely  come,  it  is  beyond  all  human  foresight  to  predict.  .  .  .  But 
the  new  Europe  that  will  rise  from  the  ashes  will  have  a  real  baptism  in 
Christ,  and  the  wisdom  of  India  will  nurse  her  back  to  her  new  life.  Till 
the  time  when  all  that  comes  to  pass,  Christ,  as  we  have  said,  has  his  work 
to  do  in  India,  and  as  we  celebrate  the  birth  of  Christ  this  year,  with  the 

447 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

On  the  whole  my  own  opinion  as  to  the  Christian  conversion 
of  India  is  this:  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the  prospect  is  much 
less  brilliant  than  one  would  gather  from  certain  missionary 
books,  and  that,  humanly  speaking,  it  is  impossible  to  predict 
that  India  will  ever  be  entirely  Christian;  and  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  results  thus  far  attained  have  amply  justified 
the  money  and  men,  the  thought  and  effort  and  human  life 
which  have  been  expended  in  the  missionary  enterprise,  and 
that  one  cannot  reasonably  set  any  limits  to  the  possibilities 
of  the  future.  Unquestionably  a  great  deal  more  of  India  can 
be  converted  than  has  been  converted  thus  far. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  second  question  concerning  mis- 
sions: Granted  that  conversion  is  possible,  is  it  desirable? 
"Why,"  the  upholders  of  this  argument  against  missions  will 
ask,  —  "why  substitute  a  new  symbolism  for  an  old?  All  re- 
ligions teach  ultimately  the  same  truths;  they  differ  only  in 
outer  garb,  only  in  words  and  forms.  Why,  then,  seek  to 
replace  the  words  and  forms  and  symbols  which  have  grown 
hoary  and  reverent  by  ages  of  devotion  and  which  have  a  hold 
over  the  Indian's  imagination  and  emotion  which  no  new  sym- 
bols, however  noble  they  may  seem  to  you,  can  ever  win?" 
This  is  perhaps  the  commonest  and  perhaps  also  the  best  of  the 
arguments  against  missions.  One  meets  with  it  surprisingly 
often  among  Christian  people.  The  Indians  and  the  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese,  we  are  told,  have  religions  that  in  some 
ways  are  very  noble.  Possibly  from  an  abstract  point  of  view 
they  are  not  equal  to  Christianity;  but  after  all,  for  each  man 
his  own  religion  —  unless  it  be  positively  base  —  is  the  best 
religion.  And  this  because  its  symbolism  has  a  hold  on  him 
that  no  new  symbolism  can  ever  acquire.^ 

There  is  much  truth  in  this  argument;  and  certainly,  if  it 

distant  spectacle  of  a  Europe  '  red  in  tooth  and  claw '  looming  before  our 
eyes,  a  sense  of  added  ovmness,  of  heightened  kinship  in  present  concern 
and  future  purpose,  is  borne  in  upon  our  soul  at  the  contemplation  of 
Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.  We  feel  to-day  as  never  we  felt  before  that  he  has 
come  to  stay  with  us,  and  that  the  seal  of  his  constant  inspiration  and  au- 
thority will  never  be  lacking  to  ratify  our  national  eflForts  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  unity  of  Religion  among  men." 

^  A  view  practically  identical  with  this  is  held  by  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  learned  of  Christian  theologians  —  Professor  Troeltsch,  of  Berlin. 
It  is  also,  of  course,  the  common  Theosophist  view. 

448 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS  IN   INDIA 

were  a  matter  only  of  exchanging  one  set  of  symbols  for 
another^  there  would  be  little  justification  for  missions.  But 
the  argument  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  very  questionable 
assumption  that  all  the  great  religions  are  essentially  alike, 
and  differ  only  in  minor  details  or  in  outer  form.  Now,  it  is 
doubtless  true  that  these  religions  are  at  one  in  many  of  their 
teachings;  and  I  think  every  religious  man  should  rejoice  at 
the  discovery  which  has  been  made  only  in  our  times  that 
there  is  so  much  in  common  in  all  the  religions  of  the  world. 
Certainly  it  has  not  been  the  aim  of  this  book  to  minimize  any 
of  this  unity  or  to  belittle  the  nobler  sides  of  the  non-Christian 
religions.  Yet  every  honest  man  who  has  no  pre-formed  the- 
sis to  support  must  surely  see  that  between  the  religions  there 
are  not  only  likenesses  but  differences.  And  the  crucial  ques- 
tion so  far  as  missions  is  concerned  comes,  therefore,  to  this: 
Are  these  admitted  differences  negligible  or  important,  and 
is  Christianity  on  the  whole  sufficiently  superior  to  the  other 
religions  to  justify  the  missionary  effort  for  the  conversion  of 
the  non-Christian  world? 

On  a  question  so  involved  as  this  each  man  must,  of  course, 
form  his  own  opinion,  and  I  shall  certainly  not  venture  to  force 
the  reader's  view  or  even  to  express  in  full  my  own.  I  shall, 
however,  put  forward  certain  considerations,  which  should  be 
taken  for  what  they  are  worth.  In  the  first  place,  we  should 
(and  this,  I  suppose,  is  evident  enough)  take  for  comparison 
the  best  aspects  of  the  different  religions  concerned  and  be 
careful  not  to  contrast  the  ideals  of  one  with  the  actualities 
of  another.  And  in  the  second  place,  if  we  are  seeking  for  a 
comparison  which  the  followers  of  other  religions  than  our  own 
will  admit  as  fair,  we  must  try  to  view  them  all  from  a  neu- 
tral point  of  view,  instead  of  placing  ourselves  vAthin  one  and 
judging  all  others  from  it.  Thus  it  would  be  easy,  but  most 
unjudicial,  to  declare  that  Christianity  is  the  best  religion 
because  it  is  true  and  the  others  are  false.  It  would  be  easy  for 
us  to  do  so,  but  it  would  be  equally  easy  for  the  Mohammedan, 
the  Buddhist,  and  the  rest  to  judge  our  religion  in  the  same 
cavalier  fashion;  and  then  there  would  be  nothing  left  for  us 
to  do  but  exchange  dogmatisms  and  let  argument  degenerate 
into  recrimination.  For  an  objective  judgment  on  this  matter 
449 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

it  is  safest  to  take  our  stand  in  this  world,  and  compare  the 
different  religions  by  their  verifiable  effects  upon  human  life. 
Theoretically,  of  course,  we  might  be  able  to  make  fair  and  ob- 
jective judgments  from  some  metaphysical  point  of  view;  but 
for  most  of  us  the  metaphysical  point  of  view  is  so  influenced 
by  the  religious  that  such  a  performance  is  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult. At  any  rate,  all  that  I  shall  have  to  say  on  this  subject 
here  will  be  based  on  the  humbler  and  safer  position. 

Christianity  and  the  finer  forms  of  Hindu  philosophy  have 
much  in  common.  Both  have  highly  spiritual  views  of  the 
world,  both  exalt  the  soul  and  bring  it  very  close  to  God.  But 
there  is  one  difference  between  them  that  must  not  be  over- 
looked. The  Vedanta  of  Shankara  and  ultimately  also  the 
Vedanta  of  Ramanuja  picture  the  soul  as  so  dependent  upon 
God  or  so  lost  in  Him  that  there  is  no  place  left  for  real  indi- 
viduality and  genuine  responsibility  and  freedom.  There  is 
much  that  is  beautiful  and  attractive  in  quietism  of  this  sort; 
but  every  doctrine  that  denies  real  freedom  to  the  individual 
—  freedom  even  toward  God  —  is  a  blow  at  the  finest  part 
of  the  moral  life. 

In  comparison  with  Buddhism  and  Jainism,  Christianity 
has  the  unquestionable  psychological  advantage  of  the  belief 
in  an  active  spiritual  world,  in  a  living  God  rather  than  in  a 
dead  man,  or  a  group  of  inactive  Tirthankaras.  This  I  say 
is  an  advantage  from  the  point  of  view  of  human  life  ;  it  is  a 
psychological  advantage,  to  which,  in  fact,  the  history  of  Bud- 
dhism and  Jainism  bear  ample  witness.  And  even  if  we  con- 
fine our  comparison  to  the  field  of  morality  alone,  there  can  be 
no  question,  to  my  thinking,  of  the  very  great  superiority  of 
Jesus's  teaching  over  that  of  Gautama.  Splendidly  ethical  as 
the  latter  unquestionably  is,  it  takes  a  subjective  point  of  view 
which  robs  the  moral  life  of  its  finest  aroma.  In  its  attempt  to 
forget  self  through  negation,  it  forever  focuses  thought  upon 
self  and  upon  the  acquisition  of  merit.  Jesus,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  noble  objectivity,  teaches  his  followers  to  forget  them- 
selves by  losing  themselves  in  the  defense  of  some  noble  cause, 
in  pursuit  of  some  genuine  and  common  value,  in  strenuous  and 
devoted  service  to  needy  fellow-creatures  —  which  is  the  only 
road  to  real  unselfishness  and  the  surest  way  to  inner  peace. 
450 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

And  as  to  Islam,  its  best  form  is  no  doubt  very  like  Uni- 
tarian Christianity  —  very  like,  that  is,  provided  we  abstract 
from  Mohammed  and  the  Koran.  The  Prophet  of  Arabia  was 
far  too  fallible  to  serve  as  an  inspiration  for  any  very  high 
morality;  and  the  Koran,  while  a  true  revelation  for  Arabs 
of  the  seventh  century  and  for  Africans  of  the  nineteenth, 
must  steadily  prove  more  and  more  a  fetter  rather  than  a  help, 
as  modem  education  increases  in  the  Moslem  community. 
Much  as  may  be  said  in  praise  of  Mohammedanism,  it  still  is 
true  that  so  far  forth  as  it  differs  from  liberal  Christianity,  its 
philosophy  is  crude,  its  ideals  are  low,  and  its  authoritative 
"revelation"  is  a  hindrance  to  progress. 

In  comparison  with  all  these  religions  the  moral  teachings 
of  Christianity  have  certain  undeniable  advantages.  In  the 
first  place,  no  other  religion  focuses  the  attention  on  sin  in 
the  deepest  moral  sense  as  does  Christianity.  Several  religions 
have  excellent  methods  of  moral  training  and  have  long  cata- 
logues of  sins;  but  no  other  has  gone  so  to  the  heart  of  the 
matter  and  shown  so  unmistakably  that  in  the  last  analysis 
sin  is  not  a  matter  of  habit  but  of  will.  As  a  result  Christian- 
ity has  been  able  to  rouse  a  sense  of  sin  which  is  the  first  step 
toward  a  reform  of  life,  and  to  keep  the  attention  fixed  on 
the  genuinely  moral  question.  And  it  has  been  able  to  do  this 
because,  on  the  whole,  it  has  a  keener  and  more  intelligent 
insight  into  the  nature  of  righteousness  than  any  of  its  rivals. 
For  Christianity  at  its  best  —  as  seen,  let  us  say,  in  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  —  never  confuses  sin  with  any  sort  of  ritualis- 
tic uncleanliness,  never  blurs  its  ideal  of  righteousness  with 
that  of  the  acquisition  of  merit,  nor  lowers  it  by  eagerness  for 
personal  advancement  —  for  selfish  morality.  Other  religions 
have  many  admirable  precepts:  Christianity  alone  seems  to 
have  realized  to  the  full  that  love  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  law. 
And  in  saying  this  I  am  not  forgetting  that  the  "Golden  Rule" 
and  other  of  the  Christian  precepts  can  be  duplicated  in  the 
noble  scriptures  of  non-Christian  religions.  But  in  none  of 
these  is  the  principle  of  loving  self-forgetfulness  in  the  ser- 
vice of  others  made  the  one  all-determining  principle  of  life, 
from  which  all  particular  precepts  inevitably  flow.  There 
is  a  largeness,  a  whole-souled  devotion  in  the  Christian  spirit 

451 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

which  all  the  other  religions,  in  spite  of  their  admirable  max- 
ims, somehow  miss.  And  hand  in  hand  with  this  superiority 
of  Christian  teaching  goes  the  enormous  influence  and  inspira- 
tion which  stream  out  from  the  example  of  the  founder.  Jesus 
embodies  in  a  concrete  and  moving  fashion,  as  no  other  founder 
has  ever  done,  humanity's  supreme  ideals  of  sacrifice  and 
service.  And  I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  other  historical 
personality  has  ever  had  an  influence  approaching  that  of 
Jesus  as  an  inspiration  and  a  present  help  toward  the  highest 
form  of  self-forgetful  usefulness  and  active  love. 

The  simplicity  of  Christianity  also  must  be  mentioned  in 
every  consideration  of  the  wisdom  of  an  attempt  to  substitute 
it  for  other  religions.  There  is  a  fine  and  spiritual  side  to  all 
the  religions  native  to  India :  but  it  must  be  noted  that  in  most 
cases  this  finer  side  is  for  the  intellectual  only  and  can  hardly 
be  grasped  without  some  philosophy.  To  the  simple  minds 
who  cannot  understand  this  philosophy,  the  native  religions 
have  little  to  ofifer  that  is  not  bound  up  with  external  forms 
and  superstitious  customs.  This  is  the  reason  why  Hinduism 
as  seen  by  the  average  tourist  —  the  religion  of  the  common 
people  in  the  temples  —  appears  so  disgusting.  The  best  of 
Hinduism  is  only  for  the  learned.  Christianity,  on  the  other 
hand,  offers  its  best  to  the  simple.  True,  various  theologies, 
various  "philosophies  of  Christianity"  have  been  contrived 
for  it  as  difficult  as  you  please  and  quite  incomprehensible  to 
all  but  the  elect.  But  it  is  questionable  how  much  of  value 
these  contain:  and  it  is  certain  that  the  finest  things  in  Chris- 
tian teaching  are  to  be  found  in  the  simple  talks  which  Jesus 
had  with  a  few  fishermen.  The  fundamental  point  of  view 
which  Jesus  taught  and  exemplified  and  which  has  had  such 
transforming  power  wherever  it  has  been  fully  grasped  in  its 
unperverted  form  is  thus  capable  of  being  transmitted  directly 
to  the  humblest  Indian,  to  whom  the  intricacies  of  the  Ve- 
danta  and  the  arguments  of  the  Buddha  must  remain  forever 
sealed.  Mohammedanism  and  Zoroastrianism,  of  course,  are 
also  simple  in  their  way.  But  they  lack  a  certain  emotional 
depth  as  well  as  the  moral  emphasis  which  distinguishes 
Christianity  at  its  best;  and  above  all,  as  psychological  forces, 
they  lack  the  power  over  the  imagination  and  over  the  active 

452 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

moral  life  which  comes  from  the  partly  historical  and  partly- 
metaphysical  image  of  Jesus. 

It  is  unfair,  you  say,  to  compare  the  subtle  Hindu  and 
Buddhist  philosophies  with  the  simpler  form  of  the  Christian 
teaching,  in  their  appeal  to  the  uneducated.  Perhaps  so:  but 
it  is  out  of  every  zeal  for  fairness  that  I  have  done  it.  For  I 
have  sought  in  all  my  comparisons  to  take  the  non-Christian 
religions  always  at  their  best.  And  if  we  turn  from  philosophi- 
cal Hinduism  to  the  actual  Hinduism  of  the  great  majority 
of  Hindus,  the  religion  of  nearly  all  the  large  Shudra  caste  and 
of  the  Indian  villager  of  every  caste,  we  find  a  mass  of  super- 
stitions, idolatry,  external  performances,  and  irrational  if  not 
downright  immoral  customs  which  have  outlived  by  a  thou- 
sand years  the  conditions  which  originated  and  excused  them 
—  so  far  as  they  ever  were  excusable.  Doubtless  all  these  be- 
liefs and  customs  are  shot  through  with  symbolic  meaning 
to  him  who  understands:  but  how  much  of  this  is  understood 
by  the  Indian  villager.?  And  who  is  there  to  teach  him? 

And  this  leads  me  to  point  out  an  advantage  possessed  by 
Christianity  over  all  its  rivals  which  is  of  very  considerable 
importance  and  which  is  seldom  mentioned  in  the  compara- 
tive study  of  religions.  I  have  in  mind  here  the  practical 
methods  by  which  Christianity  is  applied.  The  real  value  of  a 
religion,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  depends  not  only  upon  its  teach- 
ings, but  also  upon  its  teachers.  There  is  perhaps  more  con- 
trast between  the  different  religions  in  their  practice  than 
in  their  theory.  Islam,  for  instance,  is  in  theory  opposed  to 
sensuality;  but  in  reality  it  does  almost  nothing  to  stop  it. 
Christians  no  doubt  are  often  sensual;  but  not  only  does  Chris- 
tian teaching  forbid  it:  Christian  teachers  strenuously  and 
actively  oppose  it  and  take  every  measure  in  their  power  to 
guard  the  young  against  it.  It  is  all  very  well  to  say  that  the 
Moslems  need  none  of  our  missionaries,  and  that  if  they  would 
practice  their  own  religion  they  would  be  a  very  good  lot. 
Who  is  there  to  induce  them  to  practice  it?  Their  own  leaders 
do  not  really  try  to  do  so.  Shall  the  missionary,  then,  under- 
take it?  And  shall  he  preach  to  them  Islam  or  the  religion 
in  which  he  himself  heart  and  soul  believes?  The  greatest 
weakness  of  the  non-Christian  religions,  as  I  think  our  study  of 

453 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

them  In  the  preceding  chapters  has  shown,  is  not  so  much  the 
lack  of  noble  thoughts  and  high  ideals,  but  rather  the  almost 
complete  lack  of  any  efficient  system  or  institution  for  com- 
municating those  ideas  and  ideals,  and  the  hampering  effects 
of  a  superstitious  conservatism  that  puts  the  letter  before  the 
spirit.  Not  one  of  the  religions  studied  has  as  yet  any  univer- 
sal and  efficient  system  of  religious  education.  With  most  of 
them  what  the  children  shall  learn  of  their  religion  is  left 
largely  to  chance,  and  chance  usually  sees  to  it  that  they  learn 
the  least  valuable  parts.  Consider,  moreover,  the  authorita- 
tive scriptures  of  the  various  religions  —  the  sources,  as  they 
maintain,  of  their  highest  ideals  and  noblest  conceptions.  I 
have  not  in  mind  here  a  comparison  of  them  with  the  Bible  — 
though  that  would  be  disadvantageous  enough  for  all  of  them : 
I  mean  here  merely  to  remind  the  reader  that  almost  all  of 
these  books  are  practically  inaccessible  because  quite  unin- 
telligible to  the  great  majority  of  those  who  found  their  faiths 
upon  them.  The  authoritative  scriptures  and  the  prayers  and 
ritual  of  the  Hindus  are,  for  the  most  part,  in  Sanskrit;  those 
of  the  Jainas  in  Sanskrit  and  Prakrit;  the  Granth  of  the  Sikhs 
is  in  ancient  Punjabi;  the  Koran  is  in  Arabic;  the  Avesta  of 
the  Parsees  in  Zend;  and  the  Pitakas  of  the  Buddhists  in  Pali. 
All  of  these  are  dead  languages,  languages  which  only  the  few 
learned  ones  understand.  And  translations,  though  they 
sometimes  exist,  are  rarely  used.  What  sort  of  spiritual  pabu- 
lum is  this  for  the  hungry  soul?  And  not  only  so,  but  the  non- 
Christian  religions  are  notably  ill-provided  with  professional 
workers  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  morals.  It  is  nobody's 
business  to  take  an  interest  in  the  moral  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity and  of  its  various  individual  members.  Each  man 
must  look  out  for  himself  with  little  help  from  others.  To 
be  sure,  there  is  something  corresponding  to  our  clergy  in 
most  of  the  non-Christian  religions;  but  consider  them.  The 
Buddhists  and  Jainas  have  monks  who  do  a  little  educational 
work  of  a  primitive  sort  and  who  sometimes  preach  an  occa- 
sional sermon  —  but  who  for  the  most  part  are  too  busy  sav- 
ing their  own  souls  to  look  out  for  any  one  else's.  The  Moham- 
medans have  no  clergy  at  all  —  only  a  kind  of  combination 
reader  and  janitor  whose  work  is  confined  to  the  mosque.  The 
454 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

Parsee  priests  are  the  least  respected  and  often  the  most  ig- 
norant members  of  the  community.  The  Sikh  priests  do  little 
but  read  once  or  twice  a  day  out  of  an  ancient  book  in  an  un- 
known tongue,  and  spend  the  rest  of  the  time  plying  a  brush 
made  of  peacock  feathers  and  seeking  baksheesh.  The  Hindu 
gurus  are  for  the  most  part  disseminators  of  superstition. 
And  the  Brahmin  priests  —  of  them  it  were,  perhaps,  best  to  say 
nothing  at  all.  They  are  as  a  rule  lazy,  ignorant,  avaricious; 
their  official  occupation  is  pouring  water  on  a  lingam,  repeat- 
ing verses  a  large  part  of  which  they  do  not  understand,  put- 
ting mystic  marks  on  the  foreheads  of  the  faithful  with  cow- 
dung  (for  a  consideration),  and  squeezing  money  from  the  pious 
pilgrim.  And  the  rest  of  the  truth  about  them  is  hardly  fit 
to  print. 

Compare  with  this  dearth  of  all  preparedness  for  nourish- 
ing the  spiritual  life,  the  admirable  equipment  which  our  Chris- 
tianity brings  with  it :  our  Scriptures  read  in  the  vernacular 
at  every  public  service  and  learned  and  loved  in  the  home; 
our  Sunday-Schools  for  the  young,  our  sermons  on  the  higher 
life  for  the  old ;  our  persistent  watchfulness  against  every  kind 
of  moral  danger,  and  our  trained  and  truly  devoted  clergy,  who, 
in  spite  of  the  taunts  occasionally  leveled  at  them,  do  devote 
their  lives  to  the  safeguarding  of  the  morals  of  the  community 
and  the  upbuilding  of  the  nobler  virtues.  Certainly  system  and 
institutions  and  "efficiency"  are  not  everything;  but  given 
two  religions  whose  teachings  are  equally  good,  the  one  that 
has  an  organization  like  the  Christian  will  have  far  greater 
effect  on  the  moral  life  of  the  community  than  will  the  other, 
however  noble  its  philosophy,  if  it  be  no  better  provided  for 
actual  work  than  are  the  non-Christian  religions  of  India. 
This  to  my  mind  is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of 
missions,  and  one  which,  as  it  seems  to  me,  should  appeal  to 
every  moral  man  no  matter  what  his  view  may  be  of  the  subtle- 
ties of  Christian  theology.  If  Christianity,  under  the  guidance 
of  a  body  of  devoted  men  like  our  missionaries,  were  to  be- 
come the  religion  of  a  substantial  part  of  India's  population, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  enormous  uplift  in  moral 
and  social  conditions  that  would  be  felt  throughout  the  whole 
land. 

455 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

How  can  this  be  brought  about?  What  is  the  most  promis- 
ing policy  of  the  missionary  enterprise  for  the  achievement  of 
this  great  aim?  On  the  details  of  this  question  I  have  no  opin- 
ion and  am  quite  unqualified  to  speak.  The  problem  has  been 
carefully  studied  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  missionary  boards 
and  by  the  missionaries  themselves,  and  discussed  with  great 
wisdom  at  missionary  conferences,  and  it  would  be  presump- 
tuous for  me  to  hazard  an  opinion  as  to  methods  if  I  had  one. 
There  are,  however,  two  questions  connected  with  the  general 
policy  of  Christian  missions  on  which  mere  outside  observers 
like  the  reader  and  myself  have  a  right  to  an  opinion,  and 
concerning  which  I  should  like  to  offer  a  few  quite  common- 
place remarks.  The  questions  I  have  in  mind  are  the  attitude 
of  the  missionary  toward  the  religions  which  he  seeks  to  sup- 
plant, and  his  attitude  toward  Christianity. 

As  I  have  already  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  part  of  this 
chapter,  the  missionary's  attitude  toward  the  non-Christian 
religions  of  India  has  changed  very  considerably  even  in  the 
last  twenty-five  years.  In  the  old  days  he  thought  his  first 
duty  was  to  attack  the  religion  of  his  hearers  with  all  the  vio- 
lence of  which  he  was  capable,  and  to  assure  them  that  hell 
fire  was  waiting  for  all  the  unbaptized.  Missionary  literature, 
whether  at  home  or  abroad,  was  filled  with  denunciations  of 
the  heathen  in  his  blindness  —  a  policy  which  was  due  partly 
to  a  misconception  of  the  best  way  of  attracting  the  unregen- 
erate,  and  partly  to  real  ignorance  concerning  the  finer  side 
of  the  native  religions.  Missionary  sermons  and  writings  have 
now  quite  a  different  tone.  The  Christian  Literature  Society 
at  Colombo,  to  be  sure,  is  still  situated  on  "Dam  Street," 
but  this  fact  has  lost  its  old  significance.  Typical  of  modern 
missionary  books  is  Howell's  recent  and  excellent  work,  "The 
Soul  of  India,"  in  which  the  author  exhibits  at  length  and  with 
scholarly  care  the  points  not  of  contrast  but  of  agreement  be- 
tween Christianity  and  Hinduism;  and  typical  also  is  the  more 
recent  and  more  excellent  "Crown  of  Hinduism,"  by  Farquhar, 
which  seeks  to  demonstrate  (as  its  title  signifies)  that  Chris- 
tianity has  come  to  India  not  so  much  to  destroy  as  to  fulfill. 
The  attitude  of  an  increasing  number  of  missionaries  is  repre- 
sented by  the  following  wise  words  which  I  take  from  the  last 
456 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

Report  of  the  World's  Missionary  Conference:  "More  harm 
has  been  done  in  India  than  in  any  other  country  by  mission- 
aries who  lacked  the  wisdom  to  appreciate  the  nobler  side  of 
the  religion  which  they  have  labored  so  indefatigably  to  sup- 
plant. .  .  .  Below  the  strange  form  and  hardly  intelligible 
language  lies  life,  the  spiritual  life  of  human  souls,  needing 
God,  seeking  God,  laying  hold  of  God,  so  far  as  they  have 
found  Him.  Until  we  have  at  least  reached  so  far  that  under 
the  ceremonies  and  doctrines  we  have  found  the  religious  life 
of  the  people,  we  do  not  know  what  Hinduism  really  is." 

This  new  policy  of  the  more  liberal  missionaries  of  recogniz- 
ing generously  all  that  is  best  in  the  native  religions  and  build- 
ing so  far  as  possible  on  foundations  already  at  hand,  instead 
of  seeking  to  destroy  everything  in  sight,  is  steadily  growing. 
Thus  we  would  seem  to  be  approaching  a  reconciliation  be- 
tween Christianity  and  the  Indian  religions.  And  many  of 
the  representatives  of  these  religions  are  willing  to  go  half- 
way. Especially  is  this  true  of  the  Hindus.  Many  of  them 
would  be  glad  to  accept  Christ  as  one  of  the  numerous  ex- 
pressions of  God  and  of  the  truth,  and  to  merge  Christianity 
within  Hinduism.  But  here  we  reach  a  point  beyond  which 
the  missionaries  are  not  willing  to  go.  They  insist  not  only 
upon  the  acceptance  of  Christ,  but  also  upon  the  renunciation 
of  the  old  gods  and  of  certain  of  the  old  customs  and  the 
recognition  of  the  distinctive  teachings  of  Christianity.  For, 
as  we  have  seen,  they  hold  that  while  there  is  much  in  com- 
mon between  Christianity  and  the  Indian  religions,  there 
are  also  points  of  contrast,  and  that  these  differences  are  of 
very  real  importance.  To  many  this  exclusive  attitude  of  the 
Christian  missionary  may  seem  narrow,  but  I  am  convinced 
that  a  certain  amount  of  it,  at  any  rate,  is  justified.  If  the 
missionaries  should  agree  to  an  amalgamation  of  Christianity 
with  Hinduism,  the  Christian  side  of  the  partnership  would 
soon  disappear  in  the  capacious  maw  of  its  ever  hungry 
partner.  It  would  be  a  partnership  like  that  in  which  the  lion 
and  the  lamb  lie  down  together,  with  the  lamb  inside.  Christ 
would  simply  be  added  to  the  pantheon  (which,  with  its  thirty- 
three  million  gods,  is  hardly  in  need  of  an  addition) ;  or  He 
would  be  made  an  eleventh  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  and  before 

457 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

many  generations  all  that  is  distinctively  Christian  would 
disappear  from  India  as  completely  as  Buddhism  did  after 
Vishnu  had  swallowed  Gautama.  There  is  much  that  is  fine 
in  the  Vedanta,  and  Ramanuja's  formulation  of  it  in  particu- 
lar is  in  some  respects  strikingly  like  certain  aspects  of  Chris- 
tian teaching.  One  branch  of  this  school,  in  fact,  as  we  have 
seen,  maintains  the  freedom  of  the  will.  Yet  as  a  practical 
and  actual  matter  the  tendency  of  Indian  thought  is  to  leave 
quite  unemphasized  the  importance  of  the  individual  and  his 
responsibility.  And  if  we  are  seriously  considering  a  partner- 
ship with  Vaishnavism  we  should  pay  more  attention  to  this 
almost  universal  Indian  tendency  than  to  the  theology  of  one 
of  its  sub-sects.  For  most  Indian  theologians,  whether  Vaish- 
navite  or  of  any  other  school,  there  is  little  place  for  personal 
freedom,  for  genuine  moral  struggle  and  individual  achieve- 
ment, little  place  for  virtue  and  sin  as  Christianity  conceive 
them,  little  place,  in  short,  for  real  individuality  and  responsi- 
bility. And  these  are  things  which  Christianity  cannot  give 
up  without  sacrificing  all  that  moral  earnestness  which  is  its 
ver\^  life. 

But  perhaps  the  chief  reason  why  Christianity  cannot 
aflford  to  let  Christ  be  made  an  avatara  of  Vishnu  is  not  to  be 
found  in  its  disapproval  of  Vaishnavite  theology,  but  rather 
in  a  realization  of  the  incalculable  loss  that  would  result  to  it 
—  and  to  humanity  —  if  Christ  should  be  put  on  a  level  with 
the  present  Vaishnavite  incarnations.  Not  to  mention  the 
earlier  ones  —  the  fish,  tortoise,  boar,  and  the  rest  —  consider 
the  perfectly  mythical  Rama  and  the  mythical  and  immoral 
Krishna  (he  of  the  sixteen  thousand  concubines).  The  Chris- 
tian view  of  the  incarnation  possesses  two  inestimable  advan- 
tages over  the  Vaishnavite  view,  advantages  which  it  must 
cling  to  at  any  and  every  cost  —  the  undoubted  historicity  of 
its  God-man,  and  the  fact  that  in  both  His  life  and  His  teach- 
ings is  to  be  found  the  supreme  moral  ideal. 

But  if  the  missionary  should  and  must  insist  upon  keeping 
the  fundamental  Christian  view  unmixed  and  pure,  it  does 
not  follow  that  he  should  reject  all  the  beliefs  and  institutions 
of  Indian  religions.  The  attempt  to  foist  Christianity  in  its 
present  Western  garb  upon  the  Indian  as  a  complete  substi- 
458 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

tute  for  his  old  religion  is  of  doubtful  wisdom.  There  is  so 
much  that  is  fine  and  genuinely  spiritual  in  the  nobler  forms 
of  faith  native  to  India  that  it  will  be  a  great  pity  if  some  means 
cannot  be  found  for  preserving  these  within  Indian  Christian- 
ity. Did  God,  indeed,  speak  only  in  Palestine,  that  his  voice 
is  not  to  be  heard  in  the  Upanishads?  And  is  our  Western 
form  of  Christianity  the  only  proper  form?  Too  often  we 
forget  that  Jesus  himself  was  an  Oriental.^ 

When  the  Western  world  was  converted  to  Christianity,  it 
not  only  adopted  the  new  religion  as  its  own :  it  adapted  it  to 
the  various  needs  and  desires  and  ways  of  thinking  already 
dominant  in  Europe.   Our  Western  t>^pe  of  intellect,  with  its 
love  of  exact  definition,  promptly  formulated  Christianity  in 
various  doctrines  and  dogmas  which  serv^ed  their  day  and  gen- 
eration remarkably  well.    It  is  a  question,  however,  whether 
some  of  these  doctrines  have  not  nearly  lost  their  useful- 
ness in  the  West;  and  it  is  doubly  questionable  whether  the 
East,  whose  type  of  mind  is  so  different  from  our  own,  should 
be  made  to  accept  these  dogmas  as  the  condition  of  receiv- 
ing Christianity.    We  have  seen  how  great  an  obstacle  some 
of  these  ancient  dogmas  are  in  the  conversion  of  the  more 
intelligent  Indians,  and  it  seems  extremely  unlikely  that  we 
shall  ever  be  able  to  convert  any  large  number  of  them  to  a 
belief  in  our  medieval  creeds.    We  must  remember  that  the 
higher  classes  of  India  are  not  children  nor  savages;  that  they 
are  men  mostly  of  our  race;  and  that  they  not  only  have  an 
ancient  and  abstruse  philosophy  of  their  own,  but  that  many 
of  them  are  very  wide  awake  to  what  is  going  on  in  the  intel- 
lectual world  of  Europe.   They  are  not  to  be  fooled  into  sup- 
posing that  all  is  peace  within  the  camp  of  Christendom,  nor 
to  be  docilely  inoculated  with  views  which  most  of  our  theo- 
logical seminaries  at  home  have  given  up.    They  read  our 
philosophy  and  science,  they  are  acquainted  with  the  modern 
revolt  against  authority,  sometimes  they  know  more  about 
the  Higher  Criticism  than  do  the  missionaries  with  whom 
they  dispute.    If  we  who  have  been  brought  up  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  reverence  for  the  old  symbols  are  unable  any  longer 

1  Cf.    Mozoomdar's   admirable   work,    The  Oriental   Christ.     (Boston, 
George  H.  EUis,  1898.) 

459 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

to  accept  them  in  the  old  way,  is  it  likely  that  the  intelligent 
Indians,  to  whom  our  symbols  are  strange  and  some  of  our 
dogmas  unintelligible,  will  ever  be  converted  to  a  vital  belief 
in  these  things?  I  would  not  for  a  moment  suggest  a  doubt  as 
to  whether  Christ  has  a  message  for  these  Indians,  and  one 
which  they  can  accept  and  understand  and  which  they  need. 
He  has  a  message  for  all  of  them,  for  the  highest  as  well  as  the 
lowest.   But  I  am  not  sure  that  the  Nicene  Fathers  have. 

But  even  if  it  were  possible  to  persuade  these  men  of  the 
truth  of  our  ancient  dogmas,  would  it  be  desirable  to  do  so? 
Should  we  really  be  doing  India  a  service  by  converting  it  to 
beliefs  which  we  of  the  West  have  been  giving  up  these  past 
fifty  years  and  which  our  own  experience  shows  us  are  hardly 
compatible  with  modern  ways  of  thinking?  For  we  should 
remember  that  while  Hinduism  has  inevitably  been  under- 
mined by  the  progress  of  modern  thought,  it  has  not  been 
alone  in  suffering  this  catastrophe.  The  scholastic  theology 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  part  of  which  we  still  officially  profess, 
has  become  almost  equally  incredible  to  most  thinking  men. 
Would  it  be  wise  or  kind  to  convert  the  Indians  to  views  which 
we  know  are  no  longer  defensible,  even  if  we  could?  Consider 
the  pain,  the  heart-break,  the  skepticism  that  we  of  the  West 
have  had  to  go  through  these  past  fifty  years  in  recognizing 
our  lack  of  genuine  belief  in  certain  doctrines  that  still  remain 
upon  our  official  creeds.  Can  we  seriously  wish  to  put  our 
Indian  brothers  back  where  we  were  fifty  years  ago,  and  ask 
them  to  go  through  the  same  sad  and  wasteful  test? 

Probably  most  of  my  readers  will  agree  with  me  that  our 
more  conservative  missionaries  are  making  a  mistake  in  pre- 
senting Christianity  in  a  form  which  Christendom  itself  is  fast 
outgrowing.  And  I  personally  should  go  even  farther  than 
this,  and  question  whether  there  are  not  some  doctrines  which 
we  who  have  been  brought  up  within  Christian  traditions 
may  well  cling  to,  but  which  it  would  be  unwise  to  foist  upon 
our  Indian  converts.  Let  those  who  wish  to  pursue  theology 
study  these  things,  but  why  teach  them  as  a  really  essential 
part  of  our  religion?  Can  we  not  wait  till  we  have  exhausted 
the  sources  of  Galilee  before  turning  to  Nicsea,  and  Rome  and 
Geneva  and  Westminster?  Let  us  seriously  ask  ourselves 
460 


CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

whether  it  be  wise  to  teach  the  Indians  the  various  points  of 
"  Christology " ;  the  stories  from  the  Old  Testament  which 
the  "natural  man,"  with  a  natural  conscience,  usually  finds 
rather  questionable;  the  infallibility  and  inerrancy  of  the 
Scriptures;  the  creation  of  the  world  out  of  nothing;  God's 
choice  of  Israel  as  His  only  "chosen  people";  the  Apostolic 
Succession;  the  "Plan  of  Salvation,"  with  its  machinery  of 
blood,  faith,  and  grace  as  "our  only  ground  for  hope";  the 
Eternal  Damnation  of  all  those  not  properly  "justified"?  The 
reader  can  fill  out  the  list  as  well  as  I.  And  must  we  even 
insist  that  God's  only  revelation  was  made  to  men  of  the 
Hebrew  race?  Must  we  teach  the  Indians  that  in  coming 
to  believe  in  Christ  they  must  give  up  all  faith  in  their  own 
revered  prophets  —  Buddha,  Mohammed,  Zarathustra,  and 
the  rest?  Must  we  demand  that  they  surrender  their  belief 
in  transmigration  and  the  eternal  nature  of  the  soul  and  the 
inevitable  law  of  moral  cause  and  effect,  and  that  they  substi- 
tute for  it  our  doctrine  that  the  soul  originates  at  the  birth  of 
the  body,  and  at  the  body's  death  it  goes  to  an  everlasting 
heaven  or  hell?  Are  we,  then,  so  sure  of  these  things  ourselves? 
Or  that  God  must  not  be  called  Brahman  nor  Allah  nor  Ahura, 
but  spells  His  name  G-O-D? 

We  have  in  the  mission  field  a  great  opportunity,  not  only 
for  spreading  Christianity,  but  for  purifying  and  strengthen- 
ing it,  an  opportunity  of  freeing  it  from  the  dogmas  which 
have  served  their  day  and  are  now  no  longer  of  any  real  serv- 
ice, but  must  in  the  future  more  and  more  prove  fetters  and 
chains  in  its  progress.  We  have  an  opportunity  of  preserving 
the  kernel  of  Christianity  and  throwing  aside  its  husk  —  an 
opportunity  which  may  serve  us  not  only  in  "  converting  the 
heathen,"  but  in  defending  all  that  is  really  Christian  against 
the  assaults  of  agnosticism  at  home,  and  of  deepening  the 
spiritual  life  of  Christendom  by  putting  the  emphasis  at  last 
on  the  place  where  Jesus  put  it.  If  we  take  this  course  and, 
no  longer  misled  by  the  spell  of  ancient  symbols,  concentrate 
our  efforts  on  spreading  the  spirit  of  Christ,  we  shall  have 
every  reason  to  be  hopeful  of  the  success  of  Christian  mis- 
sions. If  we  take  the  opposite  course  and,  insisting  on  the 
substitution  of  our  symbolism  for  the  Indians',  seek  to  nourish 
461 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

their  spiritual  life  on  dogmas  which  no  longer  genuinely  feed 
our  own,  we  shall  surely  fail. 

But  Christianity  shall  not  fail.  It  shall  not  fail  because  it 
shall  be  carried  over  all  the  world  in  hands  more  worthy  than 
ours,  and  by  men  who  know  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  by  observation.  It  may  not  be  under  the  name  "Chris- 
tian" that  His  Kingdom  shall  come,  but  the  true  follower  of 
the  Master  will  not  greatly  care  for  words  and  spelling,  so 
that  the  cause  triumphs.  He  may  find  that  God's  ways  are 
not  our  ways,  and  that  the  teachings  of  Christ  take  deepest 
root  when  the  conventional  wrappings  in  which  we  have  cov- 
ered them  are  stripped  away.  And  if  he  finds  them  grafted 
on  to  the  old  religions  and  transforming  them  in  everything 
but  name,  he  will  not  quarrel  with  his  brother  Christian  be- 
cause of  their  disguise. 

Yes,  in  the  large  sense  at  least,  the  missionary  enterprise 
must  succeed,  because  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  the  missionary 
spirit.  Perhaps  the  greatest  reproach  of  the  non-Christian 
religions  is  their  lack  of  missionary  zeal;  and  the  greatest 
argument  for  the  superiority  of  Christianity  is  the  fact  that 
it  is  supremely  the  missionary  religion.  One  might  even  go 
so  far  as  to  say  that  a  religion  deserves  to  succeed  just  in  so 
far  as  it  has  the  missionary  spirit.  For  the  missionary  spirit 
is  the  spirit  of  loving  service;  it  is  the  incarnation  of  Chris- 
tianity. Hence  it  is  astounding  to  find  "Christians,"  as  one 
so  often  does,  who  "do  not  believe  in  missions."  For  where- 
ever  "Christianity"  ceases  to  be  a  missionary  religion  it 
ceases  to  be  Christian.  And  if  Christianity  be  taken  in  the 
large  sense,  if,  in  short,  it  be  identified  with  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
whoever  loves  humanity  must  wish  well  to  Christian  mis- 
sions, and  whoever  believes  in  humanity  must  have  good 
hopes  of  the  missionary's  ultimate  success.  For  Christianity 
has  a  message  which  the  non-Christian  world  cannot  do  with- 
out. And  the  delivery  of  this  message  is  the  greatest  debt  that 
the  West  owes  to  the  East. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

WHAT   THE  WEST  MIGHT  LEARN 

THE  voyage  back  from  India  to  Europe  is  not  merely  a 
passage  of  the  body  from  one  continent  to  another:  it 
is  a  voyage  of  the  soul  among  changing  psychological  climes. 
And  when  at  last  one  sets  foot  upon  European  soil  in  some 
great  port,  the  contrasts  of  the  new  with  the  old  that  strike 
one  are  both  material  and  spiritual.  The  great  superiority  of 
the  European  laborer,  clerk,  manager,  over  the  Asiatic  in  in- 
telligence and  efficiency,  the  marks  of  centuries  of  mechanical 
progress,  the  care  of  public  health,  the  evidences  of  almost 
superfluous  wealth  —  these  are  among  the  things  that  are  first 
to  be  noticed.  There  are  other  contrasts  besides  these.  One 
of  the  first  things  that  I  saw  on  landing  was  a  typical  Euro- 
pean cafe.  It  was  a  pleasant  sight  after  those  many  months 
of  impoverished  natives  and  exiled  Englishmen.  I  sat  and 
watched  the  people  at  the  tables,  drinking  their  beer,  sipping 
their  coffee,  smoking  their  cigarettes,  and  munching  their 
sweets.  How  fat  they  were,  how  well-dressed,  how  compla- 
cent, how  gemuthlich:  in  short,  how  different  from  an  Indian 
crowd!  I  asked  myself  in  what  this  difference  consisted. 
Partly,  no  doubt,  in  costume  and  the  loss  of  color,  partly  in 
avoirdupois,  in  complacency.  But  I  thought  the  most  striking 
difference  between  it  and  a  company  of  Indians  was  to  be 
found  in  the  appearance  of  the  women  and  in  the  attitude  of 
the  men  toward  them.  When  I  looked  attentively  at  the  in- 
dividual women  at  the  tables  round  me,  there  could  be  no 
doubt  who  and  what  many  of  them  were.  And  the  bearing  of 
their  male  companions  made  the  relation  between  them  quite 
transparent.  I  left  the  cafe  and  walked  through  the  crowded 
streets.  Everywhere  the  same  symptoms  of  the  great  social 
disease  of  the  West  presented  themselves.  And  I  learned  anew 
that  an  Indian  woman  with  but  two  small  rags  may  be  mod- 
estly attired;  and  a  European  woman  may  be  indecently  clad, 
463 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

though  robed  in  many  metres  of  costly  stuffs.  Brought  up 
as  we  are  in  the  midst  of  this  sort  of  thing,  it  is  hard  for  us 
to  understand  the  feelings  of  an  Asiatic  when  he  first  visits 
Europe.  The  blatancy  with  which  the  social  vice  is  paraded 
through  our  city  streets  comes  to  him  as  a  kind  of  blow  in  the 
face.  I  have  talked  with  many  Indians  who  have  visited  the 
West,  —  Hindu,  Mohammedan,  Buddhist,  and  Parsee,  —  and 
when  I  asked  for  their  impressions  of  Europe  and  America 
I  have  discovered  almost  invariably  (in  spite  of  their  cour- 
teous attempt  to  soften  their  words)  that  the  open  and  wide- 
spread immoralities  of  our  cities,  our  enticing  and  feeding  of 
depraved  tastes,  our  public  indecencies,  come  to  them  with  a 
shock  that  they  have  never  been  able  to  forget.  It  seems  to 
them  almost  incredible:  —  as  though  on  being  introduced 
into  a  costly  palace  they  found  its  interior  a  pigsty. 

I  do  not  say  there  is  no  social  vice  in  India  and  no  im- 
purity of  thought.  Of  course  there  is.  On  certain  occasions 
some  of  the  Indians  (like  the  ancient  Greeks)  feel  called  upon 
to  sing  indecent  songs,  even  in  religious  festivals.  Many  rich 
natives  keep  mistresses,  and  in  certain  quarters  of  some  of  the 
towns  public  women  are  to  be  found.  But  no  man  dares,  or 
cares,  to  flaunt  these  women  in  the  public  streets,  and  when- 
ever they  appear  they  are  indistinguishable  in  costume  from 
others.^  One  could  easily  spend  a  lifetime  in  India  and  never 
see  a  woman  indecently  clad  nor  one  whose  actions  were  in  any 
way  immodest.  More  than  that:  he  might  go  to  the  native 
theater  repeatedly  and  never  see  an  erotic  or  suggestive  play;  he 
might  walk  the  streets  and  visit  the  shops  endlessly  and  never 
see  an  indecent  picture,  except  those  due  to  European  influence. 
The  Indians  are  relatively  naive  and  childlike  compared  with 
us  in  the  West.  The  arts  of  suggestion  and  hidden  allusion  they 
have  not  learned.  The  sexual  life  is  taken  as  a  matter  of  course, 
—  quite  objectively,  —  but  not  gilded  and  bedecked  and  senti- 
mentalized and  philosophized  ^  and  gloated  over.  A  mission- 
ary who  knows  them  and  their  language  well  —  and  who 

1  A  traveled  Indian  gentleman  said  to  me,  "No  Indian  prostitute  would 
have  anything  to  do  with  such  public  obscenities  as  any  one  may  see  in  the 
suburbs  of  Chicago." 

*  Exception  should  here  be  made  of  certain  Vaishnavite  and  Shakti  sects. 

464 


WHAT   THE   WEST   MIGHT   LEARN 

certainly  holds  no  brief  in  their  praise  —  told  me  that  for 
many  years  he  has  listened  to  their  conversation  while  they 
(supposing  him  ignorant  of  their  language)  talked  quite  freely 
with  each  other.  And  never  has  he  overheard  an  obscene  story 
or  a  vulgar  allusion  from  them.  This  may  be  typical  and  it  may 
not.^  What  the  inner  state  of  the  Indian's  mind  may  be  I  do 
not  know.  But  I  know  that  he  has  a  sense  of  outer  decency 
which  we  of  the  West  might  well  borrow  from  him. 

W^e  might  also  borrow  from  him  with  some  profit  his  sense  of 
the  indecency  of  drunkenness.  For  centuries  the  influence 
of  Hinduism  has  been  exerted  against  excessive  drinking,  and 
Mohammedanism  and  Buddhism  have  prohibited  intoxicants 
altogether;  and  these  forces  —  with  other  forces  allied  —  have 
built  up  a  public  opinion  in  all  the  upper  classes  of  the  Indian 
people  against  strong  drink.  European  example  is,  indeed, 
beginning  to  break  this  down;  but  it  is  still  possible  to  spend 
years  in  India  and  never  see  a  drunken  native. 

I  cherish  no  sentimental  belief  in  the  superiority  of  the 
Oriental.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  would  keep  him  unspoiled 
from  all  Western  influence.  The  West  has  a  great  deal  that  the 
East  might  well  learn,  and  must  learn  if  it  is  to  progress  and 
throw  off  the  chains  of  very  evil  custom  that  make  the  life  of 
its  millions  miserable.  But  I  also  believe  that  there  are  a  few 
things  —  a  very  few,  perhaps  —  which  the  efficient  and  saga- 
cious "up-to-date"  West  could  afford  to  imitate  from  the 
simple,  quiet,  antiquated  East.  It  is  some  of  these  things  — 
only  two  or  three  —  that  I  wish  to  speak  of  in  this  last  chapter. 
I  have  already  mentioned  out^vard  decency,  and  I  shall  add 
to  this  but  one  thing  more.  But  how  this  one  thing  should  be 
named  I  am  at  a  loss  to  say.  It  is  the  root  from  which  the  In- 
dian's temperance  and  his  sense  of  public  decorum  grow.  It  is 
not  a  social  custom  or  any  isolated  characteristic,  but  an  atti- 
tude of  mind,  rather;  a  kind  of  inwardness,  a  feeling  about  life 
and  about  the  world  that  expresses  itself  in  the  man's  exter- 
nal bearing  and  is  the  inner  side  of  all  the  virtues  that  he  has. 
It  is  a  kind  of  simplicity,  a  quietness,  an  innate  modesty  and 
lack  of  self-obtrusiveness  —  which  has,  in  fact,  resulted  in  a 

1  I  am  told  by  another  missionary  that  in  Gujarati,  where  he  lives,  the 
Indians  are  by  no  means  so  pure  in  heart  or  pure  of  tongue. 

465 


INDIA  AND  ITS  FAITHS 

reputation  for  passivity  —  an  interest  in  the  inner  world  which 
in  many  develops  into  what  might  be  called  a  realization  of 
the  soul. 

The  simplicity  of  the  Oriental  and  his  modesty  and  lack  of 
self-assertiveness  give  the  clue  to  much  of  the  charm  of  Indian 
life.  A  native  village  may  be  unsanitary  and  unclean,  but  one 
never  finds  in  it  a  touch  of  vulgarity,  just  as  one  may  see  a 
coolie  clad  in  a  loin-cloth  or  a  woman  nursing  her  baby  in  the 
streets  and  find  in  neither  the  slightest  suggestion  of  immod- 
esty. Immodesty  and  vulgarity  are  things  of  the  mind,  and 
the  naive  simplicity  of  the  Indian  make  both  very  rare.  This 
same  lack  of  self-assertiveness  and  of  preoccupation  with  the 
thought  of  worldly  gain  and  of  one's  own  importance  make  for 
both  quietness  and  peace.  There  is  little  shouting  in  an  Indian 
street  and  no  fighting.  Compared  with  these  Indians  we  West- 
erners seem  so  noisy,  so  big-footed,  so  domineering,  so  con- 
scious of  our  importance.  Doubtless  we  are  important.  But  a 
touch  of  Oriental  modesty  and  quietness  and  simplicity  would 
not  harm  us. 

It  is  in  part  this  lack  of  preoccupation  with  the  thought  of 
self-importance,  joined  with  a  fine  sensitiveness,  that  makes 
the  Indian  so  reluctant  to  take  life.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to 
say  that  the  Indian  is  more  sympathetic  than  the  European. 
But  he  has  learned,  through  centuries  of  development  and  from 
various  causes,  to  have  a  feeling  of  repugnance  at  the  thought 
of  killing  which  is  quite  as  comparable  to  the  musician's  pain 
at  discord  as  it  is  to  the  moralist's  hatred  of  sin.  It  is  largely 
this  (Esthetic  feeling  which  is  at  the  bottom  of  much  of  the  In- 
dian's antipathy  to  meat-eating.  If  asked  to  dine  on  roast 
beef,  he  feels  as  if  his  host  had  said,  "Come  and  eat  a  dead 
cow  with  me!"  To  him  the  thought  of  our  Chicago  slaughter- 
houses, with  their  streams  of  blood,  receiving  daily,  as  they  do, 
thousands  of  splendid  and  beautiful  creatures  in  all  the  pride 
of  health,  and  sending  out  in  their  stead  tons  of  dead  carcasses 
to  be  devoured  by  us  human  animals,  —  this  thought,  I  say, 
seems  to  him  simply  horrible.  This  sensitiveness  to  the  bad 
taste  of  taking  life  we  Westerners  have  never  yet  attained  to. 
We  are  not  far  enough  away  from  the  hunter  stage  of  aesthetic 
development.  The  instinct  of  the  chase,  which  loves  killing  for 
466 


WHAT   THE   WEST   MIGHT   LEARN 

Its  own  sake,  is  still  strong  in  us,  and  the  white-livered  brown 
man  of  India  who  does  not  share  it  with  us  we  think  a  "molly- 
coddle." It  might  be  interesting  to  know  what  the  Indians 
think  of  us.  It  would  be  especially  interesting  to  know  what 
the  Buddhist  and  the  Jaina,  with  their  real  sympathy  for  all 
living  things,  would  say  of  us.  The  contrast  of  the  East  and  the 
West  on  this  particular  was  once  brought  home  to  me  on  a  trip 
down  the  Irrawaddy.  The  ship  was  crowded  with  Buddhist 
deck  passengers  —  men  and  women  who  had  been  taught  from 
childhood  that  the  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  in- 
cludes all  forms  of  animal  life,  and  means  real  good-will  toward 
all  living  things.  At  one  of  the  stations  an  Englishman  came  on 
board,  and  the  contrast  between  him  and  the  deck  passengers 
was  sufficiently  striking  —  the  Burmese,  living  on  a  purely 
vegetable  diet  and  drinking  only  water,  low- voiced,  courteous 
in  manner,  kindly  and  sympathetic  toward  every  form  of  life 
however  low;  and  the  big  Englishman  returning  from  the  hunt 
with  a  dozen  little  dead  birds  strung  along  a  stick  and  the 
skulls  of  three  dead  deer  as  tokens  of  his  great  prowess  —  deer 
which  he  had  killed  not  for  meat,  but  for  the  fun  of  killing 
them ;  his  trophies  carried  behind  him  by  as  many  meek,  bare- 
footed Bengali  servants,  as  he  walked  proudly  along  the  deck 
with  great  steps  and  large  feet,  issuing  his  orders  in  a  loud 
voice,  and  later  on  sitting  down  to  his  dinner  of  fish,  mutton, 
duck,  and  two  courses  of  beef,  accompanied  by  several  glasses 
of  the  unfailing  whiskey-and-soda.  The  next  day  the  same  con- 
trast was  again  illustrated.  A  flock  of  wild  ducks  was  resting 
on  the  waters  ahead  of  us,  and  when  we  reached  them  they 
rose  and  flew  parallel  to  our  course  in  graceful  lines.  It  was  a 
charming  sight,  and  we  were  all  watching  it,  when  we  heard 
a  crack  and  then  another  and  another.  One  of  the  officers  of 
the  ship  —  a  fine  young  Englishman  filled  with  our  Anglo-Saxon 
love  of  "sport"  which  is  so  carefully  inculcated  upon  most  of 
us  in  our  youth  by  elders  and  juniors  alike  —  had  seen  the 
game  (but  not  the  beauty),  and  seized  the  opportunity.  He 
kept  on  firing  at  the  ducks  till  they  were  far  beyond  his  range. 
He  knew  at  the  start  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  get- 
ting any  of  the  birds  that  he  might  succeed  in  hitting  —  the 
ship  would  not  be  stopped  for  that.  He  had  no  thought  of 
467 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

replenishing  the  larder.  He  just  wanted  to  kill  the  ducks  for  the 
pleasure  of  proving  his  marksmanship,  and  asserting  his  will; 
and  also  from  the  hunter's  joy  in  seeing  the  birds  drop  with 
broken  wing,  flutter  into  the  water,  flounder,  and  drift  by, 
dying  or  dead.  And  he  surely  was  a  very  typical  product  of 
our  Western  culture  with  its  love  of  self-assertion  and  its  cult 
of  "sport."  I  understand  no  Burmese,  so  could  not  catch  the 
comments  of  our  "molly-coddle"  third-class  passengers.  Poor 
things,  they  are  still  quite  primitive  in  their  ideas  and  have 
not  yet  been  educated  up  to  "sport."  But  if  the  precept  and 
example  of  the  West  are  of  any  avail  they  shall  not  long  be 
left  thus  benighted.  Brace  up,  O  Burman!  Be  a  man!  Assert 
yourself!  Kill  something! 

Another  aspect  of  the  Eastern  lack  of  self-assertiveness  — 
and  perhaps  a  deeper  aspect  —  is  its  lack  even  of  self-con- 
sciousness. There  is  a  naivete  about  the  unspoiled  Indian 
which  is  found  in  the  West  only  among  children  —  and  great 
men.  The  Indian  is  not  always  asking  himself  how  this  or  that 
will  look;  what  people  will  think  if  he  does  thus  or  so.  Hence  he 
can  be  natural  in  a  way  that  we  seldom  are.^  When  the  proper 
time  of  day  arrives  the  Mohammedan  falls  on  his  knees,  wher- 
ever he  may  be,  and  prays.  He  seeks  neither  to  attract  atten- 
tion nor  to  avoid  it.  On  the  village  street  you  see  him  kneeling, 
on  the  vessel's  deck,  in  the  fields,  on  the  hillside.  The  fact  that 
you  stand  in  front  of  him  staring  neither  pleases  nor  disquiets 
nor  embarrasses  him.  He  is  sure  that  it  is  good  to  pray  at  the 
appointed  hours,  and  quite  as  natural  as  to  breathe  the  air. 
But  this  would  be  impossible  for  a  Westerner.  If  one  of  us 
should  try  it,  every  one  would  be  sure  it  was  a  "pose."  And 
this  because  we  Westerners  have  for  centuries  cultivated  a 
habit  of  acting  before  the  mirror.  In  place  of  the  spontaneous 
and  unreflecting  good  taste  that  more  primitive  peoples,  like 
the  Indian,  possess,  we  have  cultivated  a  complex  and  artificial 
decorum  which  almost  banishes  true  naturalness  from  our 
possibihties.  It  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  in  the  world 
for  us  to  be  simple :  only  the  great  succeed.  And  the  root  of  our 

1  An  exception  should  be  made  of  the  Buddhist  monk,  whose  constant 
preoccupation  with  "selflessness"  and  merit  make  him  at  times  stiffly  self- 
conscious. 

468 


WHAT   THE   WEST   MIGHT   LEARN 

almost  unconquerable  stiffness  and  artificiality  is  the  thought 
of  self.  It  was  in  this  that  both  Jesus  and  Buddha  found  the 
root-evil  of  mankind.  Not  only  is  it  "self  whereby  we  suffer." 
It  is  self  whereby  we  sin  and  self  whereby  we  are  ridiculous. 
There  is  so  much  in  our  Western  world  to  remind  us  constantly 
of  ourselves  that  the  exhortation,  "Forget  yourself,"  is  almost 
impossible  of  fulfillment.  Yet  in  a  sense  that  is  the  final  task  of 
all  self-culture.  "Except  ye  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall 
in  no  wise  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 

The  self-consciousness  of  the  West  and  its  self-assertiveness 
result  in  what  every  Eastern  visitor  calls  our  "materialism." 
When  one  first  begins  reading  Oriental  journals  or  talking 
with  intelligent  Orientals  about  the  West,  he  comes  upon  one 
of  the  many  surprises  that  are  ever  awaiting  the  Westerner  in 
the  East.  He  expects  that  the  Oriental  will  be  quite  as  dazzled 
with  the  brilliancy  of  our  Western  material  civilization  as  we 
at  home  are.  He  finds  a  ver>'  different  view  of  things.  The 
Oriental  admits  our  cleverness  and  inventiveness,  our  power, 
wealth,  and  luxury.  But  he  refuses  to  be  dazzled.  And  not 
only  so.  He  tells  us  also  that  our  mechanical  devices,  our 
wealth  and  luxury,  are  fetters  that  bind  our  souls.  This  is  a 
surprise,  indeed :  for  many  of  us  W^esterners  are  astounded  that 
the  "heathen"  should  know  about  the  soul  at  all,  and  a  still 
larger  number  of  us  have  forgotten  —  or  have  never  heard 
—  that  there  was  such  a  thing.  Yet  the  Indian  will  insist  upon 
this  point.  "  You  Westerners,"  he  will  say,  "  have  built  a  Mo- 
loch that  is  now  devouring  you.  You  accuse  the  E^st  of  wor- 
shiping stocks  and  stones,  and  perhaps  this  is  true:  — but  is  it 
any  nobler  to  worship  silver  and  gold?  You  are  the  servants  of 
things;  the  slaves  of  a  convention  which  measures  respecta- 
bility by  possession.  You  cram  your  houses  with  things  — 
costly  or  cheap  —  and  then  build  greater  houses  to  store  more 
things;  you  cover  your  backs  and  load  your  bodies  with  them, 
to  make  a  show,  and  when  you  have  worn  them  five  times  the 
fashion  has  changed  and  they  must  be  thrown  aside.  With 
thirty  gowns  your  women  are  wretched  because  they  have 
nothing  to  wear!  And  you  not  only  stuff  your  wardrobes,  your 
houses  and  barns,  your  cities,  your  lands  and  the  very  seas 
with  an  endless  load  of  things :  you  stuff  your  minds  and  hearts 
469 


INDIA  AND   ITS   FAITHS 

with  them.  You  have  no  time  to  think  of  the  Invisible,  nor  any 
real  faith  in  it.  You  cannot  learn  to  love  the  Eternal,  for  things 
have  blinded  your  eyes  and  stopped  your  ears.  With  wonderful 
energy  you  have  banished  the  fear  of  the  snake  and  of  the 
pestilence;  but  you  have  made  for  yourselves  a  terror  more 
terrible  than  they.  You  are  afraid  to  he  poor.  You  are  so 
convinced  that  a  man's  life  consisteth  in  the  multitude  of  the 
things  that  he  possesseth  that  you  have  almost  identified  pov- 
erty with  disgrace.  And  on  the  other  hand,  the  wealth  that  you 
gain  (and  unquestionably  you  are  good  at  that  business !)  — 
the  wealth  that  you  do  gain  brings  you  little  satisfaction.  So 
that  your  whole  life  is  a  race  after  something  you  know  not 
what.  You  do  not  know  what  you  want  and  you  will  not  take 
the  time  even  to  ask  the  question.  Doubtless  the  East  has 
failed  of  gaining  its  end  because  it  has  not  used  the  proper 
means:  but  the  West  has  been  so  busy  providing  itself  with 
means  that  it  has  no  end  and  aim  at  all." 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  of  this  accusation  against  the 
West,  certain  it  is,  at  any  rate,  that  the  East  has  always 
known  exactly  what  it  most  supremely  desired,  and  in  the  pur- 
suit of  its  ideal  it  has  never  been  afraid  of  poverty  or  of  any- 
thing else.  Bodily  comforts  it  has  despised,  and  bodily  suffering 
it  has  even  welcomed  if  by  such  means  the  soul  might  profit. 
The  history  of  Indian  asceticism  forms,  indeed,  a  sad  story,  and 
the  sights  one  finds  along  the  Ganges  are  sometimes  revolting 
enough.  Yet  in  this  ideal  of  crucifying  the  flesh  for  the  sake  of 
the  spirit  there  is  something  noble,  and  hidden  under  the  un- 
pleasing  aspect  of  Indian  self-denial  and  mortification  there  is  a 
rather  fine  protest  against  our  Western  pampering  of  the  body 
and  our  constant  preoccupation  with  its  comfort.  It  is  easy  for 
us,  no  doubt,  to  smile  at  the  poor  Jaina  pulling  all  his  hairs  out 
one  by  one  and  starving  himself  to  death  at  the  end  in  order  to 
attain  Moksha  and  free  his  soul  from  the  fetters  of  the  flesh; 
and  doubtless  the  Jaina  is  mistaken  in  his  choice  of  the  means. 
But  is  there  not  something  truly  fine  in  his  earnest  seeking 
after  the  end,  his  profound  faith  in  the  spiritual,  and  his  scorn 
of  the  material  when  it  stands  in  his  soul's  way?  How  many 
of  us  believe  in  our  souls  deeply  enough  to  starve  our  bodies 
to  death  for  the  soul's  sake?  Nay,  I  fear  there  are  some  of  us, 
470 


WHAT   THE   WEST   MIGHT   LEARN 

with  all  our  Christian  professions,  who  would  hesitate  to  give 
up  regularly  one  of  our  three  meals  a  day,  or  to  pull  out  so 
much  as  ten  hairs,  in  order  to  redeem  our  souls  from  their 
slavery  to  a  world  of  things.  Our  souls  may  take  their  chance, 
but  at  all  costs  there  must  be  no  physical  suffering!  How  much 
of  our  time  and  our  best  thought  goes  to  the  preparation  of 
purely  physical  comforts  —  foods  of  the  right  flavor,  clothes  of 
the  right  cut,  houses  of  the  right  temperature,  and  the  rest,  so 
that  many  of  us  have  no  time  to  think  of  greater  things !  How 
this  softness  of  the  West,  this  coddling  of  the  flesh  is  rebuked  by 
the  stern  austerities  of  India!  How  cheap  it  all  becomes  at 
the  sight  of  the  sannyasi  who  has  renounced  everything  for  the 
culture  of  his  soul ! 

For  the  culture  of  the  soul  has  been,  and  is  still,  the  one  great 
ideal  of  India.  Conquest,  government,  money-making,  pleas- 
ure, the  things  that  have  occupied  the  chief  attention  of  the 
West,  have  been  for  India  of  very  secondary  importance.  The 
jutting  rocks  and  mountain  passes  of  Europe  are  crowned  with 
the  frowning  walls  of  mediaeval  castles  and  modern  fortresses ; 
in  India  there  are  but  few  castles,  and  the  forts  are  of  European 
building.  But  every  little  hill  has  its  temple,  and  the  mountain 
passes  are  the  dwellings  of  the  gods.  At  Pagan,  in  Burma,  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Irrawaddy  is  lined  for  many  miles  with 
pagodas  of  every  shape  and  size  and  color.  Ten  thousand  of 
them  there  are,  altogether,  and  they  have  been  pointing  up- 
ward these  many  centuries  to  remind  all  who  pass  of  him  who 
taught  the  Buddhist  world  that  the  one  thing  supremely  worth 
while  was  not  to  be  found  in  material  possessions,  but  in  the 
life  of  the  spirit.  These  pagodas  are  the  embodiment  of  the 
intense  conviction  and  the  supreme  ideal  of  the  East.  Oppo- 
site them,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river,  are  other  struc- 
tures. These  have  been  built  by  the  West,  —  and  shall  I  say 
that  they  express  its  deepest  conviction  and  ideals?  They  are 
of  iron,  these  Western  productions,  angular,  ugly,  but  very 
useful.  They  are  useful,  namely,  in  the  extraction  of  petroleum 
from  the  ground ;  for  these  are  oil  wells.  Doubtless  a  great  deal 
of  good  stone  was  wasted  in  the  construction  of  the  pagodas; 
and  how  shall  we  assess  the  cash  value  of  an  ideal?  But  oil  is 
oil,  and  we  know  its  market  price. 

471 


INDIA  AND   ITS  FAITHS 

"Beauty  of  place,"  writes  Sister  Nivedita,  "translates 
itself  to  the  Indian  consciousness  as  God's  cry  to  the  soul. 
Had  Niagara  been  situated  on  the  Ganges,  it  is  odd  to  think 
how  different  would  have  been  its  valuation  by  humanity.  In- 
stead of  fashionable  picnics  and  railway  pleasure-trips,  the 
yearly  or  monthly  incursion  of  worshiping  crowds;  instead  of 
hotels,  temples;  instead  of  ostentatious  excess,  austerity;  in- 
stead of  the  desire  to  harness  its  mighty  forces  to  the  chariot 
of  human  utility,  the  unrestrained  longing  to  throw  away  the 
body,  and  realize  at  once  the  ecstatic  madness  of  Supreme 
Union.  Could  contrast  be  greater?"  ^ 

As  this  quotation  itself  suggests,  the  methods  that  India  has 
used  for  the  culture  of  the  soul  have  not  always  been  wise. 
But  she  has  at  least  maintained  her  ideal  consistently  through 
the  centuries.  Not  the  Master  of  Industry  with  his  millions, 
not  the  Boss  of  Big  Business,  has  roused  her  enthusiasm  and 
thrilled  her  imagination;  this  has  been  done  only  by  the  sann- 
yasi,  going  out  from  house  and  home,  with  no  possession  but^ 
his  begging-bowl,  to  be  alone  with  God. 

Nor  is  this  a  thing  of  the  past  in  India.  The  soul  and  its  cul- 
ture are  still  the  first  care  of  men  of  every  cult.  Worship  and 
contemplation  are  still  the  great  occupation  —  I  do  not  say  the 
great  duty,  but  the  great  opportunity  —  of  life.  A  friend  of 
mine  in  Calcutta  has  a  servant  and  a  clerk.  The  servant 
spends  every  spare  hour  of  his  twenty-four  worshiping  at  the 
shrine  of  Kali ;  and  the  clerk  —  a  man  still  under  forty  —  is 
saving  his  money  so  that  in  a  year  or  two  he  may  leave  his 
family  well  provided  and  wander  forth  as  a  sannyasi  to  spend 
the  rest  of  his  days  in  meditation.  To  us  Westerners  this  seems 
incomprehensible,  and  doubtless  it  is  extreme.  But  it  is  not 
merely  its  extreme  form  that  seems  to  us  so  strange.  The  very 
notion  of  contemplation  has  become  to  us  both  unintelligible 
and  unendurable.  We  cannot  even  with  Walt  Whitman  loaf 
and  invite  our  souls.  We  cannot  —  or  rather  will  not  —  in- 
vite our  souls  because  in  the  first  place  some  of  us  doubt 
whether  we  have  any,  and  in  the  second,  many  of  us  would  be 
bored  or  rather  frightened  if  our  souls  should  accept  the  in- 
vitation. We  say  we  have  no  time  for  contemplation  —  we 
1  The  Web  of  Indian  Life,  p.  262. 
472 


WHAT   THE   WEST   MIGHT   LEARN 

have  too  much  to  do  to  spend  our  minutes  in  that  fashion;  but 
this  is  an  evasion.  The  truth  is  we  do  not  know  how  to  medi- 
tate and  are  afraid  to  learn.  Extra  time  we  have  —  plenty  of 
it;  but  what  do  we  do  with  it?  Some  of  us  pick  up  a  book, 
others  go  to  the  theater  or  to  a  moving-picture  show,  according 
to  our  taste,  and  if  nothing  else  offers  we  can  at  least  find  some 
one  to  talk  with  —  or  talk  to ;  not  that  we  want  to  exchange 
ideas,  but  that  we  don't  want  to  be  alone  with  ourselves.  Va- 
ried as  our  respective  pastimes  are,  they  have  this  in  common: 
they  are  all  "diversions."  We  want  to  be  diverted.  Diverted 
from  what?  From  our  business  and  our  cares,  no  doubt,  but 
also  from  all  serious  thoughts.  I  question  whether  there  is  one 
man  in  fifty  of  us  who  would  be  willing  to  be  alone  and  quiet 
and  awake  and  without  a  book  for  ten  minutes.  We  are  afraid 
to  be  alone.  We  are  afraid  to  think.  What  is  there  to  think 
about?  we  ask.  The  Indian  would  regard  this  as  a  preposter- 
ous question.  What  is  there  to  think  about? — 'God  and  the 
Soul  —  the  old  questions  of  Whence?  and  Whither?  —  and 
most  of  all  the  question,  What  for?  Are  not  these  enough 
to  occupy  a  few  minutes  of  every  day?  The  sannyasi  finds 
them  too  much  for  a  lifetime.  Our  American  attitude,  in  con- 
trast with  the  sannyasi's,  is  one  of  headless  "hustle."  It  is 
well  expressed  in  that  very  American  song,  — 
"I  don't  know  where  I'm  goin', 
But  I'm  on  my  way." 

Rabindranath  Tagore  said  to  me,  "You  Americans  have  no 
leisure,  or  if  you  have,  you  know  not  how  to  use  it.  In  the  rush 
of  your  lives  you  do  not  stop  to  consider  where  you  are  rushing 
to  nor  what  it  is  all  for.  The  result  is  that  you  have  lost  the 
vision  of  the  Eternal." 

The  Indian  has  not  lost  this  vision.  He  has  lost  many  other 
things;  is  without  many  things  that  are  of  very  great  value. 
He  is  poor  and  diseased,  famine-stricken,  ignorant,  a  prey  to 
the  tiger  and  the  snake,  full  of  sores  and  sufferings  and  super- 
stitions; yet  some  divine  vision  of  the  Invisible,  some  inartic- 
ulate intuition  of  the  Eternal,  has  ever  hung  about  him  and 
is  still  brooding  over  his  land.  Of  individual  Indians  and  in- 
dividual Westerners  I  do  not  write.  There  are  many,  many 
Europeans  and  Americans  who  have  not  lost  the  vision  of  the 

473 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

Eternal,  and  many  Indians  who  have.  I  speak  only  of  ideals  in 
the  large.  But  certain  it  is  that  purely  material  aims  play  a 
much  more  important  role  in  the  West  than  in  the  E^st.  In 
India  they  really  take  the  soul  seriously;  with  us  one  is  almost 
ashamed  to  mention  it  outside  of  church. 

This  contrast  of  mental  attitude  is  partly  reflected  in,  and 
partly  caused  by,  the  philosophy  and  science  of  the  two  peo- 
ples. The  intellectual  prestige  of  our  age  in  the  West  lies  with 
physics  and  chemistry.  It  is  they  that  have  won  the  great 
triumphs,  wrought  the  modern  miracles,  and  brought  to  man 
the  gifts  whose  cash  value  none  can  dispute.  Hence  biology 
and  physiology  have  sought  to  follow  in  their  wake  and  to 
adopt  and  adapt  their  formulae.  Hence  also  psychology',  the 
youngest  of  the  family,  is  trying  to  shine  in  their  reflected 
light  and  to  keep  some  sort  of  company  with  the  great  by  tak- 
ing its  point  of  view  from  biology,  and  forcing  all  its  facts  into 
physiological  formulae  which  are  to  be  ultimately  interpreted 
in  terms  of  chemistry  and  physics.  In  such  a  science  there  is, 
of  course,  no  room  for  the  soul  or  self,  no  place  for  freedom  or 
the  life  of  the  spirit.  The  brain  and  the  nervous  system,  the 
white  and  gray  matter  with  their  marvelous  molecules,  obeying 
always  and  only  the  laws  of  motion,  —  these  have  taken  the 
place  of  the  soul  and  of  God.  Our  philosophy,  on  its  part,  is 
hopelessly  divided  against  itself  —  so  divided,  in  fact,  that  we 
cannot  be  said  to  have  a  philosophy.  Some  of  it  is  busy  justi- 
fying and  applauding  the  tyranny  of  "  Naturalism  "  and  the 
triumphant  progress  of  what  might  be  called  Pan-mechanism. 
Much  of  it  is  wandering  and  lost  in  the  mazes  of  the  "Theory 
of  Knowledge,"  remote  from  all  possible  abodes  of  men.  Some 
of  it  is  calling  out  in  brave  protest  against  the  tendencies  of 
the  times,  and  reasserting  the  old  truth  that  the  life  for  man 
is  the  life  of  the  spirit. 

The  philosophical  systems  of  India  also  are  varied;  yet  all 
those  native  to  it  have  certain  great  conceptions  in  common. 
If  these  common  conceptions  should  be  formulated  in  an  In- 
dian creed  it  would  read  in  part  somewhat  as  follows:  "I  be- 
lieve in  the  Soul.  I  believe  in  its  endless  progress  as  it  takes  its 
way  through  changing  forms,  in  worlds  that  rise  and  pass.  I 
believe  that  the  material  world,  with  all  it  has  of  luxury  and 

474 


WHAT   THE   WEST   MIGHT   LEARN 

wealth,  and  with  it  the  human  body  itself,  are  but  means  in  the 
education  and  refinement  of  the  soul,  and  that  whenever  they 
stand  in  the  way  of  the  soul's  progress  they  must  be  renounced 
and  despised."  And  to  this,  the  overwhelming  majority  of  In- 
dian thinkers  would  add:  "I  believe  that  the  human  soul  may 
enter  into,  or  is  already  and  forever  in,  immediate  communion 
with  the  Divine." 

I  do  not  think  we  can  accept  any  of  the  philosophies  of  India 
in  toto  as  the  solution  of  our  intellectual  problems.  I  am  sure 
we  cannot  accept  any  of  its  religions  as  such.  And  yet  I  think 
there  is  something  for  us  in  Eastern  thought  and  Eastern 
life,  and  something  of  the  highest  value.  One  of  the  leading 
philosophers  of  India  writes  me  as  follows:  "I  am  not  very 
hopeful  about  the  future  of '  Hinduism '  as  such.  But  I  do  pray 
fervently  that  its  inmost  spirit,  it^  Atma-vidya,  its  science  of 
the  Soul,  may  not  be  lost  altogether,  and  that  its  Theory 
of  Life  may  pass  to  new  races  and  younger  and  more  vigorous 
peoples." 

Doubtless  the  East  has  more  to  learn  from  us  than  we  from 
the  East.  And  certainly  the  best  that  it  has  to  give  we  might 
have  gained  from  our  own  Great  Teacher  if  we  only  would. 
But  the  fact  remains  that  we  have  not  learned  our  lesson.  And 
it  may  be  that  the  spiritual  teachings  of  Jesus  would  come 
home  to  us  with  greater  power  and  a  fresh  sense  of  reality  if  we 
should  consent  to  study  the  living  example  of  a  people  of  our 
own  day  who,  in  spite  of  laboratories,  microscopes,  and  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  have  never  for  a  moment  suspected  that 
the  laws  of  matter  could  explain  —  or  explain  away  —  the 
self;  and  who,  despite  coal-mines,  corporations,  stocks,  bonds, 
and  oil  wells,  have  never  lost  their  calm  faith  that  the  spiritual 
life  alone  is  of  supreme  value,  and  that  in  comparison  with  it 
wealth,  fame,  power,  and  pleasure  are  as  the  small  dust  of  the 
balance.  For  the  Indian  knows  that  all  these  pass  away,  while 
for  each  of  us  the  only  eternally  abiding  thing  is  his  own  soul. 

"What  is  the  light  of  man?  "  was  a  question  asked  of  the  sage 
Yajnavalkya  by  a  certain  king  some  eight  hundred  years  or 
more  before  Christ. 

And,  as  one  of  the  ancient  Upanishads  ^  tells  us,  the  sage  at 
'  Brihadaranyaka  Upanishad,  iv,  3. 
475 


INDIA   AND   ITS   FAITHS 

first  gave  the  obvious  reply:  "The  sun,  O  King;  for  having  the 
sun  alone  for  his  light  man  sits,  moves  about,  does  his  work, 
and  returns." 

But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  King,  and  he  asked:  "When  the 
sun  is  set,  O  Yajnavalkya,  what  is  the  light  of  man?" 

And  again  the  obvious  answer  was  made:  "When  the  sun  is 
set,  then  the  moon  is  the  light  of  man;  for  having  the  moon 
alone  for  his  light  man  sits,  moves  about,  does  his  work,  and 
returns." 

"But  when  the  sun  is  set,  and  the  moon  is  set,  what  is  the 
light  of  man?" 

And  once  more  Yajnavalkya  answered,  and  this  time  quite 
in  the  spirit  of  modern  applied  science:  "When  the  sun  is  set, 
and  the  moon  is  set,  then  fire  is  the  light  of  man;  for  having  fire 
alone  for  his  light  man  sits,  moves  about,  does  his  work,  and 
returns." 

But  the  recurring  question  came  again:  "When  the  sun  is 
set,  and  the  moon  is  set,  and  the  fire  is  gone  out,  what  is  the 
light  of  man?" 

To  this  there  is  but  one  reply;  and  Yajnavalkya  gave  it 
last:  — 

"When  the  sun  is  set,  and  the  moon  is  set,  and  the  fire  is 
gone  out,  the  soul  is  the  light  of  man." 


THE  END 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Ahimsa,  155,  264,  265,  348,  395,  415, 

466-68. 
Ahmedabad,  265. 
Ahura  Mazda,  319-22,  461. 
Akaranka  Sutra,  269,  289. 
Al  Ashari,  292,  294. 
Alexandra,  Mme.  David,  415. 
Allah,  III,  292-95,  461. 
Allahabad,  35,  37-42,  219,  264. 
Amir  Ali,  309. 

Amritsar,  246,  248,  249,  251. 
Andrews,  Rev.  C.  F.,  201. 
Angad,  243,  245,  246. 
Anguttara  Nikaya,  388,  398. 
Arjan,  246. 
Arjuna,  60,  107,  no. 
Arjundas,  99. 
Arnold,  Prof.  T.  W.,  307. 
Aryan  Brotherhood  of  Bombay,  170- 

71- 
AryaSamaj,  172,  174,  183,  186,  199- 

212,  248. 
Asceticism,  41,   147,   150,   160,  238, 

244,  266,  268,  269,  303,  312,  470, 

471. 
Avalon,  Arthur,  61. 

Bahadoor,  Rai   Saligram,  214,   217, 

218. 
Banerjea,  174. 

Barnett,  L.  D.,  31,  54,  82,  87,  90. 
Basanta  Koomer  Roy,  186. 
Bawa  Chhajju  Singh,  202. 
Benares,  17,  19,  21,  25,  35,  36,  42-44, 

94. 95- 146, 155. 161, 219, 239, 243, 

250,  264,  272. 
Bengal,  19,  60,  65,  161,  247. 
Besant,  Mrs.  Annie,  5,  225,  226,  228- 

33.  261. 
Bhagavad  Gita,  53,  54,  60,  70,  84-86, 

97, 99, loi, 107, 115, 123, 124, 141, 

153- 
Bhagavad  Purana,  54. 
Bhagavan  Das,  131,  185. 
Bhakti,  25,  84,  100,  loi,  109,  235, 

245- 
Bhandarkar,  R.  G.,  48,  50,  53,  57. 
Bharata     Dharma     Mahamandala, 

187. 


Bijoy  Krishna  Goswami,  148. 
Bipin   Chandra  Pal,  11,  60-63,  96, 

118,  148. 
Blavatsky,  H.  P.,  224,  226,  230. 
Bombay,  3,  170,  171,  173,  201,  318, 

330,  335- 
Bose,  Dr.  J.  C.,  8. 
Brahma,  36,  50,  67,  244,  355,  357. 
Brahmachari,  135. 
Brahman,  61,  74-77,  79-85,  100, 103, 

no.  III,  461. 
Brahmo  Samaj,  90,   170,   171,   174, 

180,  190-99,  210. 
Brindaban,  35. 
Buddha,  228,  256,  340,  342,  345-48, 

357.  365.  368,  369,  373.  374.  378, 

380-82,  385,  387,  38^  390,  392^5. 

397-400,  406,  408,  409,  411-16, 

452,  457,  461. 
Biihler,  Prof.  J.  G.,  288. 
Burma,  247,  344,  349,  355,  357,  358, 

360,  364,  365,  367,  368,  433. 
Butler,  Sir  Harcourt,  185. 

Calcutta,  19,  62,  145. 
Carus,  Paul,  362,  380. 
Caste  system,  120-27,  169-73,  183, 

188,  205,  221,  237,  241,  245,  248, 

284,  307. 
Central    Hindu    College,    184,    185, 

227.  233. 
Ceylon,  355,  357,  358,  361,  365,  367, 

368,  376,  433- 
Child  marriage,  174,  188,  194,  205. 
Christianity,  166,  174,  177,  189,  191, 

194,  196,  296,  299,  312,  316,  317, 

368,  376,  378,  402,  403,  410,  411, 

420,  424-26,  431-44.  449-53.  455, 

459,  461,  462. 
Clough,  John  E.,  65,  143,  430,  444. 
Conjeeveram,  22,  30. 
Copleston,  R.  S.,  357. 
Crooke,  W.,  312. 

Dahlke,  Paul,  382,  386,  401 ,  414,  415. 
Daly,  Bowles,  358. 
Dancing  girls,  20,  69,  146. 
Dayanand,  154, 200-07,  209-12. 
Dayanand  Anglo- Vedic  College,  206. 


479 


INDEX 


Delhi,  15,  302. 

Depressed  Classes  Mission  Society, 

171-72. 
Deussen,  Prof.  Paul,  73,  80. 
Devaki,  54. 
Deva  Samaj,  172. 
Devi.   See  Kali. 
Dhammapada,     389-92,    393,     407, 

413.414- 
Dharmapala,  H.,  368,  369,  378. 
Digambara,  255,  260,  272,  274,  282, 

286. 
Dubois,  Abbe,  6,  93,  122,  124,  136, 

137,  142,  146. 
Durga.  See  Kali. 
Durga  Puja,  19. 

Eklucation,  Arya,  206,  207;  Brahmo, 
199;  Buddhist,  348,  351-53-  358, 
360-65;  Hindu,  140-44,  183-86; 
Jaina,  185,  279,  283,  285,  287;  Mo- 
hammedan, 305-07,  310;  Parsee, 
328-30;  Sikh,  185,  253;  Theoso- 
phist,  227. 

Eroticism,  55,  58,  59,  63,  69. 

Ethics,  Buddhist,  348,  349,  357,  358, 
364,  365,  392-95.  411-16;  Hindu, 
92-103;  Jaina,  263-67,  269,  270, 
277,  278,  289;  Mohammedan,  304, 
305.  313. 314. 317;  Parsee,  323-27; 
Radhasoami,  221-23. 

Family,  Hindu,  119,  127-32. 
Farquhar,  18,  25,  29,  30,  31,  63,  69, 

122,  126,  173,  177,  187,  213,  230, 

233.  253.  306,  331,  338,  426,  456. 
Fatalism.   See  Freedom. 
Fausboll,  v.,  391. 
Field,  Dorothy,  246. 
"Four  Noble  Truths,"  362,  365,  384- 

88, 394. 395. 399. 402, 406, 412-16. 
Eraser,  Sir  Andrew,  445. 
Freedom  of  the  Will,  99,  100,  293, 

294. 
Froelich,  102. 

Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  173. 

Ganesh,  15,  17,  18,  23,  24,  26-28,  67, 

229. 
Ganges,  35-44.  94.  136,  138. 
Garbe,  R.,  53. 
Garuda  Purana,  36,  92-94. 
Gautama.   See  Buddha. 
Gayatri,  67,  81,  134,  137,  141. 
Gobind  Singh,  246,  247,  250,  251. 
Gokhale,  G.  K.,  167. 
Gokul  Chand,  207. 
Goldziher,  I.,  312. 


Govinda  Das,  109, 117,  144, 159, 161. 

Granth,  237,  246,  247,  249,  252. 

Grierson,  G.  A.,  52,  89. 

Grihastha,  135,  136. 

Growse,  52. 

Guerinot,  A.,  255. 

Guru,    142-44,   216,  217,  241,  243, 

246,  247. 
Gurukula  College,  206,  207. 

Hackmann,  H.,  358. 

Hall,  Fielding,  4,  344,  354,  373,  381, 

404. 
Hanuman,  18,  24,  27,  51, 
Hardwar,  17,  18,  35-37. 
Hare,  W.  L.,  407. 
Headley,  Lord,  316. 
Heaven,  109,  252,  260,  297-99,  323, 

109.  371.  394.  409,  411- 
Hell,  92,  113,  259,  260,  297-99,  357, 

371,394,409,411. 
Hem  Chandra  Sarkar,  142. 
Hewavitarna,  Dr.  C.  A.,  378. 
Hindu    Marriage    Reform    League, 

175- 
Hindu  University  of  Benares,  185. 
Hodgson,  Richard,  230. 
Holy  days,  37,  38,  278,  302-04,  355, 

359- 
Holy  men  (Hindu),  39-41, 43, 146-61. 
Home,  Hindu,  26,  27,  130-33,  181. 
Hopkins,  Prof.  E.  W.,  288. 
Horwill,  H.  W.,  439. 
Howells,  G.  H.,  29,  31,  85,  121,  236, 

456. 

Idolatry.  See  Images. 

Idols.   See  Images. 

Images,  15,  16,  22,  24-33,  182,  188, 
196,  211,  229,  230,  272,  277,  342, 
343.  352,  355.  419,  453- 

Immortality,  Arya  belief  in,  203; 
Brahmo  belief  in,  195,  196;  Bud- 
dhist belief  in,  371,  372,376-79; 
Hindu  belief  in,  104-15  {see  also 
Karma,  Transmigration) ;  Jaina 
belief  in,  259-61 ;  Kabir's  belief  in, 
238;  Mohammedan  belief  in,  297, 
298;  Parsee  belief  in,  322,  323,  339; 
Sikh  belief  in,  244,  252. 

Incarnation,  51-57,  196,  213,  214, 
225,  244.  _ 

"Indian  Social  Reformer,"  169. 

Individuality  of  man,  75,  99,  no, 
379.  380. 

Indus,  36. 

Islam.   See  Mohammedanism. 

Iyer,  Sir  S.,  188. 


480 


INDEX 


Jackson,  A.  V.  W.,  319, 

Jacobi,  H.  G.,  263. 

"Jaina  Gazette,"  280,  284,  285. 

Jaina  vows,  263,  264,  267-69. 

Japji,  249,  250,  252. 

Jesus,  197.  199-  228,  297,  434,  450- 

53.  457.  458,  460-62,  475. 
Jnan    Chandra    Banerji,    425,    426, 

428,  437,  438,  446.  447- 
Johnson,  Rev.  J.  J.,  156. 
Jones,  Dr.  J.  P.,  69. 
Judge,  W.  R.,  232. 
Jumna,  15,  35,  36. 

Kabir,  88,  217,  236-46,  253. 

Kabir  Panthis,  the,  235-42. 

Kali,  13,  14,  19,  20,  46,  60-66,  68. 

Kalpa  Sutra,  263. 

Kandy,  417. 

Karma,   62,  108-15,  122,  123,   203, 

226,  244,  256-59,  265,  266,  365, 

371-73.  388,  400-02,  408-10,  415. 
Kartikkeya.   See  Subrahmanya. 
Karve,  174. 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  102,  171,  180, 

181,  192-95- 
Khonds,  20. 

Koot  Hoomi,  226,  230,  232. 
Koran,  236,  237,  292,  296-301,  305, 

310,  315.451- 
Krishna,  20,  21,  50,  51,  53-60,86, 

97,  107,  no,  227,  228,  458. 

Lajpat  Rai,  201,  205,  206,  211. 
Lakshmi,  15,  50,  60. 
Lala  Hansraj,  212. 
Lang,  Samuel,  321. 
Leadbeater,  C.  W.,  231,  233. 
Lingam,  17,  18,  20,  21,  24,  26,  35. 

Macauliffe,M.A.,88,89,243,246,249. 
Macdonald,  Prof.  D.  B.,  293,  294. 
Macnicol,  Dr.  N.,  239. 
Madhava  Prasad,  214,  223. 
Madura,  22,  23,  70,  145. 
Mahabalipuram,  48. 
Mahaban,  35,  56. 
Mahabharata,  11,  98,  140. 
Maha-Bhodi  Society,  362,  363,  367, 

368,  421. 
Mahadev.   See  Shiva. 
Mahanirvana  Tantra,  61,  94,  154. 
Mahatman,  151-54. 
Mahavira,  254-56,  258,  260-63,  289. 
Maitreya  Buddha,  365,  378. 
Mandalay,  251,  345,  349-52- 
Mantra,  134,  135,  138.  228,  229. 
Manu,  124,  131,  148,  201. 


Marriage,   Hindu,    128-31,   174-76, 

194. 
Martin,  Rev.  E.,  19. 
Mass  conversion,  435,  436. 
Matale,  358,  417-19. 
Maung  Tha  Kin,  383. 
Maya,  61,  82,  83,  241. 
Meditation,  153,  154,  218,  266,  268, 

353.  354- 
Mills,  E.  J.,  373. 
Mirza  Ghulam  Ahmad,  311. 
Misra,  Brahm  Sankar,  214-17,  220- 

22. 
Missionary,  Christian,  166,  167,  174, 

191,  211,  212,  309,  367,  425-31, 

435.  436,  439-41.  446,  447.  453, 

456,  457,  459,  460.  _ 
Missionary  point  of  view,  5,  6. 
Modi,  Jivanji  Jamshedji,  321,  322, 

325.  326,  334- 
Mohammed,  199,  296,  298,  300,  311- 

14,317,451,461. 
Mohammed  AH,  298,  299,  316,  317. 
Moksha,  no,  257,  260-63. 
Monasteries,     Buddhist,    351,    352, 

355.  357;  Hindu,  42,  155-58. 
Monastic  orders,  Hindu,  154,  155. 
Monk,  Buddhist,  347,  348,  351-55. 

358,  359.  364,  365.  367-69.  371. 

386,  395.  408,  415.  428,  454;  Hin- 
du {see  Sannyasi) ;  Jaina,  264,  268- 
70,  428,  454;  Kabir  Panthi,  240. 

Miiller,  Max,  65,  73,  178,  393. 
Munson,  Miss,  132. 
Murdoch,  J.,  19,  67. 
Mysticism,  88-90,  96,  100,  103,  104, 
178,  196,  235,  238,  243,  295,  410. 

Nabhaji,  237. 

Nanak,  88,  242-46,  248-51,  253. 

Nandi,  17,  18,  155. 

Nandi  the  Cowherd,  54,  56. 

Narayana,  50. 

Nats,  346-48,355.  381. 

Nepal,  19,  26,  41. 

Nerbuddha,  26,  36. 

Nirvana,  362,  374, 376, 377-8o; 386, 

387,  405,  409,  411,  419,420. 
Nivedita,  i,  4,  5.  6,  14,  47-49.  57. 

64-66,  127,  129,  131,  150,  182,472. 
Noble,  Margaret  E.   See  Nivedita. 
Nyana  Tiloka,  386. 

Offerings,  16,  18-27,  275,  383- 
Olcott,  H.  S.,  224,  232,  355,  362,  363, 

380,  399,  401. 
Oman,  J.  G.,  248,  249,  252. 
Outcastes,  121,  125,  126,  143. 


481 


INDEX 


Paramahamsa.   See  Mahatman. 

Parvati,  15,  17,  18,  23. 

Pattanattu  Pillai,  31. 

Pitakas,  394,  399,  400,  402,  412. 

Pitriloka,  108,  138. 

Polytheism  (Hindu),  70,  71,  73,  182, 

196,  203, 211. 
Prabuddha  Bharata,  183. 
Prarthna  Samaj,  171,  174,  192. 
Pratap    Chandra    Mazooradar,    61, 

459- 
Prayer,  16,  18,  25,  28,  31,  136-38, 

141,  209,  240,  249,  252,  271,  272, 

301-03,315,330,331,334-36,341- 

43.  345.  346,  380-84 
Pretaloka,  108,  138. 
Priest,  Brahmin,   16-19,  21-23,  27, 

29,  56,  140,  144-46,  455. 
Priests,  Jaina,  274;  Parsee,  329,  330, 

455;  Sikh,  249,  455. 
Puja.   See  Worship. 
Punjab,  53,  201,  206,  212,  242,  247, 

Pun,  22,  35. 

Radha,  56,  58. 

Radhasoami  Faith,  213-23. 

Rama,  35,  44,  51-53,  141,  236,  238, 

240,  458. 
Ramakrishna,  61,  62,  66,  97,   IOC, 

102,  103,  149,  151-53,  177-81. 
Ramakrishna  Mission,  181,  182,  186. 
Ramakrishna  Order,  180-84,  I95. 196. 
Ramanand,  88,  235. 
Ramanuja,  30,  78,  84,  88,  91,  100-02, 

146,  154,  155,  235,  450,  458. 
Ramayana,  52. 
Rameswaram,  22,  35. 
Ram  Mohun  Roy,  190,  200. 
Rangoon,  343,  344,  351. 
Ravana,  51. 

Reed,  Elizabeth  A.,  162. 
Reform  movement,  Buddhist,  366- 

69;  Hindu,   166-212;  Jaina,  284- 

87;  Mohammedan,  306-10;  Parsee, 

338:  Sikh,  251. 
Rhys- Davids,  Mrs.  C.  A.,  392,  400. 
Rhys-Davids,  T.  W.,  371,  389. 
Rig  Veda,  46,  67,  73,  84,  122. 
Rudra,  46. 

Sacred  trees,  24,  340,  356,  364. 
Sadhu, 146. 

Saint  Nihal  Singh,  126,  171. 
Salagrama  stones,  26,  132. 
Salvation,  means  of,  96,  97,  100,  loi, 

204, 217-19, 244, 245, 263-66,  299, 

300,  322,  388-90,  403. 


Samadhi,  151,  153. 

Sannyasi,  97,  135,  136,  146-61,  164, 

428,  473- 
Sarasvati,  60. 
Sastry,  V.  S.  S.,  167. 
Saunders,  K.,  347,  348,  358,  379,  381, 

437,  440. 
Scott,  J.  G.,  346,  347. 
Self,  Buddhist  conception  of,   371- 

73,  405;  Hindu  conception  of,  73, 

75-77.  91.  92,  99.  107,  no,  112- 

15,  163-65,  228,  229;  Jaina  con- 
ception of,  258. 
Servants  of  India,  167-69. 
Severac,  J.,  63. 
Shaivites,  49,  70,  84-87,  89. 
Shakti,  26,  60,  61-66. 
Shankara,  78-84,  99,  in,  146,  154, 

155.  235.  450. 
Shiahs,  303,  304,  310. 
Shiva,  15-23,  25,  26,  2^,  35,  43,  46- 

49,  60-71,  81,  84-87,  89,  155,  244, 

355- 
Shiva  Dayal  Singh,  213. 
Shivanath  Shastri,  90,  153,  191,  193, 

196-98,  430. 
Shraddha,  128,  138,  211,  229, 
Sikhs,  the,  170,  217,  242-53. 
Sita,  51,  141. 
Snehalata,  66,  176. 
Soul.   5eeSelf. 
Srirangam,  22. 
Steiner,  Rudolf,  233. 
Stevenson,  Mrs.  Sinclair,    257,    259, 

265-68,  270,  278. 
Sthanakavasi,  255,  260. 
Stover,   Rev.  W.   B.,   19,   121,   326, 

327- 
Subhadra   Bhikshu,   362,   372,   379, 

380,  389,  398. 
Subrahmanya,  18,  23. 
Sunnis,  303,  304,  310. 
Surya,  67, 

Sutta  Nipata,  390,  391. 
Svarga.   See  Heaven. 
Svetambara,  255,  260,  266,  272,  282, 

285,  286. 
Symbolism,  12,  13,   14,  55,  57,  68, 

138,  209,  241,  242,  274,  275,  328, 

329,  333.  448.  449- 

Tagore,  Devendranath,  77,  78,  132, 

133.  152.  153.  191-93- 
Tagore,  Prince  Dwarakanath,  191. 
Tagore,  Rabindranath,  i,  8,  73,  84, 

90,  185,  186,  237-239,  429. 
Tagore,  Satyendranath,  90. 
Tanjore,  22. 


482 


INDEX 


Taraporewalla,  Dr.,  140. 

Taylor,  H.  O.,  123. 

Temples,  15,  21-23,  25,  26,  35,  69, 

145,   146,  240,  248,  272-74,  329, 

340-44-  355. 364- 
Tennant,  Carrie  A.,  175. 
Theosophical  Society,  135,  172,  196, 

212, 224-34, 331-362,  367, 431-33- 
Theregathas,  392. 
Thiruklikundrum,  22. 
Thurston,  E.,  20. 

Tirthankaras,  261-63,  271.  272,  275. 
Transmigration,  18, 107-15.  138-  203, 

226,  244, 252,  259,  371-372,  461. 
Trevelyan,  G.  M.,  275. 
Trimurti,  67. 
Tsakni,  N.,  58,  63. 
Tulsi  Das,  52,  89,  141.  236. 

U-Khanthi,  350,  351,  371  -  372. 
Uma.   See  Kali. 

United  Provinces,  201,  206,  212-14. 
Upanishads,    72-79-    81,    84,     104, 

no,  154,  186,  201,  459. 
Upasaka,  359,  418. 

Vaishnavites,  49,  51,  56-  58-60,  70, 

84-87,  458. 
Vallabha  sect,  57,  58. 
Valmiki,  51,  52. 
Vanaprastha,  135,  136. 
Vasudeva,  50,  53,  54. 
Veda,  23, 118, 119,  191- 192,  201-03, 

219,  228,  236. 
Vedanta,  78-85,  91, 99-101,  no,  in, 

180-82,  195,  196,  211,  212,  226, 

450,  452,  458. 


I  Vedanta  Sara.  142. 
Vedanta  Sutras,  78,  84. 
Vendidad,  332. 
Virjanand,  200,  201. 
Vishnu,  15,  18,  21,  26,  27,  30,  36.  49- 

61,  67,  69-71,  81,  84-87,  155-  244, 

355.  357-  457- 
Vishnu  Purana,  54,  55,  86,  87. 
Vivekananda,  4,  49,  64,  65,  150,  153, 

178-84, 

Warren,  H.  C,  375. 

West,  E.  W.,  332. 

Westcott,  G.,  236-42. 

Widow,  Hindu,  25,  131,  173,  206. 

Wilkins,  W.  J.,  130,  131,  144. 

Williams,  Monier,  17,  18,  46,  63,  99, 
247.  251. 

Wilson,  H.  H.,  54,  207,  236. 

Woodward,  F.  L.,  371,  412. 

Worship,  Ar>'a,  207-10;  Brahmo, 
199;  Buddhist,  341,  342,  344-46- 
355;  Hindu,  n,  12,  15-33,  81,  136- 
39;  Jaina,  270-72,  275-77,  278; 
Kabir  Panthi,  240-42;  Moham- 
medan, 291,  300,  312;  Parsee,  318, 
319-  330,  333-  334;  Radhasoami, 
219-21;  Sikh,  249,  250,  252. 

Wright,  Dudley,  406. 

Yantras,  26. 
Yasoda,  54,  56. 
Yoga,  143-  150. 
Yoganindra,  54. 
Yom  Noguchi,  438. 

Zarathustra,  319-21,  323,  324.  461. 


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